Chaos in Harmony
by Chet-Manley01
Summary: The Multiverse is a complex place. Any amount of interference from one place or another can spell disaster for all the others. But what happens when several dimensions collide and form one? Twilight, Shadow, and their respective gangs are about to find out. Reviews and criticisms are appreciated and welcomed.
1. Chapter 1: A Moment in the Lives

It was a beautiful day in the land of Equestria, or it would have been had the world been working as it should. As it was, the rolling blue pinstriped hills and green skies made for some interesting vistas, but if he wasn't stopped as soon as possible, then it would get a lot worse for all of them.

Her name was Twilight Sparkle, and if you had told her she'd be saving her world from the embodiment of chaos again a few weeks ago, she'd have called you crazy. Since Discord had been unleashed upon her world yet again however, she and her friends would do what was necessary to stop him. 'How did he escape?' she wondered, 'How could they stop this?' Who knows, perhaps they could reason with him and turn him into a friend, and not have to turn him back to stone. It was worth a try at any rate. It would certainly give her and her friends a chance to rest after their attempt to chase him down. 'Here goes nothing' she thought to herself.

"Discord, wait!" cried the Purple unicorn, "We just want to talk!" That seemed to get his attention, as he skidded through the air to come to a stop, making an unearthly screeching noise as he did so. "Alright dearie, if you're so insistent upon it, let's sit a spell, maybe have some tea and crumpets as well." Said the draconequus, snapping his fingers. As he did so, a round table appeared with seven chairs, him taking up the biggest chair and sitting quietly, waiting for the ponies' response.

As Twilight walked up to the table, the cyan Pegasus known as Rainbow Dash put her hoof in front her. "What are you doing?" she whispered to her friend, "We can't just talk to him like that". "And why not?" asked the unicorn, "He seems to want to talk, and besides, I want to know just how he got out of that statue." Dash looked at her freind with much concern. "We can't trust him, last time he turned us into entirely different ponies, and I don't want that to happen again." "Dash has got a point Twiley," Replied the orange earth-pony known as Applejack "What makes you think he won't just up and trick us?" Twilight shook her head. "I'm not sure he won't, but he seems to be the kind of person who would boast about getting out of being incased in stone. Besides, if he tries to trick us we can use the elements of harmony on him, right?"

"Hello, I thought we had a conference going on over here, not over there. Am I going to have to move everything over there?" They looked up and saw that Discord was looking impatient. "Hold yer horses, we just need to clear something up" All six of them huddled together and took a look at each other. "Let's just see what we can find out, and if he makes a wrong move, we hit him with the elements, agreed?" The five others simply nodded, though somewhat hesitantly, and they walked to the table.

"Alright, first things first, how did you escape from the stone this time? Did you have outside help?" He smirked at this, saying "Right now, there are forces far from here working up something big, though I'd be lying if I said I knew what said something was, it was they who released me for some reason, and that seems rather interesting, don't you think?" "Whatever do you mean 'forces far from here'? How far are we talking?" asked the purple and white unicorn Rarity. "That depends on your definition of far my dear, but I think an entirely different universe is far enough, don't you?"

"A-a-an-another universe?" squeaked the yellow pegasus Fluttershy. Yes, 'a-a-a-another universe'." mocked the draconequus, "Say, your pink friend doesn't seem talkative, is something the matter? Does the proverbial 'cat' have your tongue?" he said to the pink pony known as Pinkie Pie, who was currently staring into space. "Who knows why she does anything? That's not the point here, the point here is that you're causing chaos throughout Equestria and we want you to stop now!" Dash exclaimed. "Aww c'mon, don't you like the improvements I've made to this place? Green grass and blue skies are sooo last semester, don't you think? Besides, what's life without a bit of zest every now and again? All work and no play make Sparkle a dull foal." She seemed to glower at that, but continued on.

"We would like you to stop the chaos that you're causing, and are prepared to offer you a deal. Stop this and we will let you go, free of charge." The others were flabbergasted at the offer, except for Pinkie, who just kept staring into space, apparently oblivious to what was happening. "Well now, that is a generous offer, however I feel that I must decline." "Decline? But why? It's a fair offer isn't it?" "More than fair, but if I give up now all my hard work will go to waste, and that just wouldn't be good of me, would it?" She didn't want to fight, but she couldn't let him continue, it wasn't good for anypony. "If you persist in this we will have to use the elements on you." He laughed at that. "If you can handle it, be my guest." He replied, cracking his neck and standing up. All hell was about to break loose. "WAIT!" cried Fluttershy, flying over the table, "Why can't we all be friends here? Can we at least talk a bit more before we get into a fight?" Discord mulled over this before answering "I suppose so, it's not like I've got anything to lose." He said, sitting back down. This would be a while.

Her name was Pinkamena Diane Pie, though she preferred Pinkie Pie, it was much shorter and sweeter (Like her namesake). She was the holder of the element of laughter, so she was usually the funniest and most talkative of their group, but right now, she was looking at something that wasn't there, at least not physically. Ever since she had been a little filly, she could see things outside of her dimensional plane of existence, which some called 'the fourth wall'.Not only that, she could talk to and hear people on her end, though they did not always hear her on theirs. She could even pull things out of this wall and use them. Her friends didn't know that she had an actual legitimate claim to be scared of the dark, with the things that moved inside of it. The only thing that kept her from screaming and running like a chicken with her head cut off was the fact that she had accepted there was nothing she could do about it, and that life was too short to worry about what was happening outside of her control, focusing instead on bringing joy to those who she could help.

She had gotten good at focusing on her dimension, but today her senses had become insistent, as if somepony were trying to tell her something. The images that flashed through her head this time were of beings that bore a slight resemblance to animals she had seen, but they walked on two legs like monkeys. A red echidna in a turban walking through a palace, a purple cat brandishing a sword standing next to a two tailed fox in a blacksmith shop, a black and red hedgehog running from a large fortress and a large amount of robots, and a blue metallic hedgehog, ready to charge at a being who looked like big hairless ape with a red suit and a giant robot behind him. 'Why are these images popping into my head, who are these beings that I'm looking at, and why now of all times?' she thought to herself.

He was Sinbad, sailor, adventurer, ladies man and favored subject of his lord the Shah. It seemed that every other day he had a new adventure story to share with the Shah's court. Today, however, he was going to see the lady Rannah, the Shah's resident magician. To the court she was merely the person who would put on a show when The Shah had one of his banquets, but to him, she was the greatest fortune teller in the world. In all his years of going to her, she had never been wrong, and he was hoping to get some advice on a venture he was about to embark on.

The city streets were crawling with people from all walks of life, merchants, peasants, nobles and thieves, all milling about and enjoying their lives. Color and beauty abounded through the streets, and the smells of spices and baked goods from all over the world wafted into his nose with their sweet and tangy smells, all of them delicious. He soon found himself standing next to Rannah's home, a modest house in the capital city of Shamar, and unhesitatingly entered. It was only a moment before he spotted her, a cream furred echidna with ice blue eyes, and contrary to her usual self, she looked beset with worry. "Hey Rannah, what's up? You don't look too good. You didn't eat some of Rameses' 'fresh' fish did you?"

She looked up at him shocked, as if she hadn't expected to see him. "Sinbad? You can laugh as much as you want, it's not like you have to worry about the end of the world as we know it!" she shot at him, catching him off guard. "Wait a minute, maybe we got off on the wrong foot here. What's this about the end of the world?" she visibly calmed, but still seemed worried. "It's my latest vision, at first everyone's fine then, there's a giant white flash of light and, then there's nothing, no city, no people, nothing. I've tried everything I can to get past the flash, but everything stops after that, it's as if the gods don't even know what's going to happen and it makes me feel". Before she could finish her sentence, the red echidna merely held her in his arms. "Listen to me, I may not know what is going to happen here, but I do know that I'm not going down without a fight, so do you have any suggestions on where to start?" She looked up at him and saw a fiery resolve in his purple eyes. "If there is any chance, it's probably within the prophetic scrolls in the Great library." "Excellent, let's go there now."

Lady Percival rode through Camelot castle searching for the blacksmith, watching as she passed the peasants below her. They all showed their respect towards the lady knight, all grateful for her role in the defeat of the wizard Merlina, though that was not her doing. That was all thanks to the tenacity and heroism of a blue hedgehog by the name of Sonic. This 'knight of the wind', as she had so dubbed him was to be the true King Arthur, but he had to leave, and gave the lady of the lake the sword Excalibur, which merely awaited his return. Sir Lancelot was leader until someone could be found to take his place. In the meantime, her blade had gotten dull and needed to be sharpened, and only one being in the kingdom could be trusted with that.

Miles Prower, Camelot's resident blacksmith was an expert in his craft despite his young age, though he wanted to do a bit more than smithing his entire life. He wanted to be part of an adventure, do something that others might call impossible, but alas, the opportunity never arose. He would probably be stuck where he was until further notice. Suddenly the door to his shop opened up, and stan in his doorway was a purple cat in armor. "Lady Percival!" he cried in near disbelief, "Tis an honor to have you here. What may I do for you, milady?" She walked over to him as she spoke "My blade doth need sharpening; I was hoping you would do so for me Mr. Prowers." "Certainly milady, I'll have your sword sharp as Excalibur when I'm through with it!" So she handed him her blade and he went to work.

Moments later he had finished his work, and her sword was truly as he had described. He handed it to her. "Ah, Laevatien, thou art once again sharp, but I wonder, is there anything that requires you to be sharp?" It had been a while since she had had a challenge worthy of a true knight, and she was beginning to wonder whether or not she would have one any time soon. "The challenge that you seek will soon be at hand, but will you be up to it?" A voice spoke. They looked around for the source, till Percival saw something moving in the water barrel. It was like a reflection in the water, though no one was over the barrel. A pink hedgehog looked up through the water. "The Lady of the Lake!" She cried, nearly dropping to her knees.

"Lady Percival, this is hardly the time for formalities. You are about to embark on the greatest adventure that you could ever have and you ought to be prepared." "An adventure?" cried the two-tailed fox over excitedly. "Yes young blacksmith, I suggest that both of you come to my alcove on the lake immediately, I will discuss it with you there." "Wait, both of us?" questioned Percival. Miles was ecstatic. The chance he had been waiting for all his life was finally here. "Don't worry your ladyship; we'll be there before you can shake lamb's tail." "But the boy is too young, he wouldn't last five minutes in the wilds." "Let him go Percival, you might just need him for what lies ahead. I will see you when you arrive." At that the Lady vanished. Before she could say anything the young blacksmith had grabbed his sword and a few supplies and jumped onto his mule. "Lady Percival, we are off!" he shouted at the top of his lungs before spurring his mule on. Shaking her head, she walked towards her horse and started riding after him.

It was not supposed to end this way. He had been bred from birth to be the ultimate life form, the pinnacle of evolution, a being with no fear. And now here he was, running from the foot soldiers of Dr. Robotonic's horde like a true coward. 'Sally wasn't supposed to die.' He thought. 'He should be there, not her. No no no, have to focus, can't change the past because it's already happened. Focus on your situation Shadow, or else everything they worked on will be for nothing.'

He hid in an alleyway, weighing his options. 'Situation is critical, the seven emeralds have lost their power, Light Gaia's champion is dead, the resistance is scattered and leaderless, and I'm running for my life from the main horde.' He surveyed the area, looking for anything to help him possibly escape. No such luck there. Suddenly, one of the robots spotted him and sounded the alarm. He tried to run down the other end, but a badnik spotted him and alerted the rest. 'I'm sorry,' he thought, a tear rolling down his cheek 'I wish I could have stopped this, but it's too late. Perhaps I should accept this fate like the coward I am.' He then felt power within him, the power of the emeralds. Maybe… maybe she was still with him, even now. And he might have a way to fix all of this. If not, he'd go out with one hell of a bang, and that was fine with him. He stepped out on the street, ready to face what was to come. No fear.

His creator laughed a maniacal laugh, obviously amused by what had just happened. Unit MS01, the pinnacle of his robot hordes, had decided that he was a being in his own right and that the egg shaped man in front of him had to be eradicated, for the good of all beings on the planet below them. **Analysis activated:** Chaos Energy in mass quantities emanating from large emerald in red container. Wires leading from the emerald suggest that this is powering his station. No back up power generators detected. Conclusion? Destroy the Emerald, and all power flow will cease. **Analysis end**. The blue AI transformed his hand into a gun and pointed it at the emerald. "No! What are you doing? Destroy that emerald and everything loses power you fool!" cried the mad Doctor. "Indeed." coldly replied the robot. "I think it's about time we suffered the same fate as those we have destroyed. See you in hell, Master." His cannon powered up, ready to strike…

The robot was then deposited onto his backside by a giant robot walker, with an enormous spike on its one hand and a chain gun in the other. "I see you've met my Egg Dragoon prototype 01. She's a beauty isn't she? I built this to deal with those pesky little 'heroes' that try to get in my way, but a test on you seems warranted, don't you agree?" With that, the giant robot attempted to gut him with his spear arm. He only just managed to roll away from that.**Analysis activated:** Robot designated Egg Dragoon. Power levels suggest several chaos drives within titanium frame. Accounting for usual hardware, carries approximately 1,000 anti-armor rounds for chain gun. Wires from arm to spike indicate some kind of power transfer, perhaps electrical. Based on general shape and approximate weight, weak point should be the knees. **Analysis end.**

The chain gun spun up, preparing to fire. His jets revved up, ready to burn. The jets were faster than the gun, and only the door was perforated. He turned towards the robot, knocking into its knees. The robot fell, but quickly brought its gun up, nearly destroying the metallic hedgehog. This time, he brought up his cannon, power to maximum, aiming at the cpu cluster in it's head. Everything flew in several directions at once; the headless prototype slumped to the floor. He then looked for the Doctor, finding nothing. Then, a screen popped up on the robot's chest, his insane creator looking straight at him.

"I forgot to tell you about the fail-safe didn't I? Sorry, forget to do that sometimes. Especially when I'm fleeing from a giant explosion. See, I installed a self destruct program on the robot and set him to use it if he were defeated. Oh, and don't think about using the doors, they're all dead locked and magnetically sealed." The robot looked up at the screen, saying "If you wished to eliminate me, why throw your prototype at me?" "I just wanted to get one last bit of data off of you, so that I could improve both you and my Dragoon when I build your replacements. Au revoir, Metal Sonic. I would say it's been a blast, but the blast hasn't happened yet. Ha ha ha ha HAAAAA!"

Metal Sonic looked up at the screen, and a timer had replaced the madman's face. "30 seconds till detonation." No way he could get to the bomb and disarm it in that time, not with the titanium plating. There had to be a way out, He just had to find it. He went through his memory banks of everything, trying to find something from anything that could get him out. "15 seconds to detonation." Then he came across some old footage from when he had fought Shadow the hedgehog, a chaos emerald in his hand. Perhaps that was his way out, he certainly had enough chaos energy around himself, he just needed to utilize it. "Ten seconds." He dashed for the Master emerald. "Nine" He grabbed onto it for a moment before ripping it out of its place. "Eight." He reviewed the footage in order to get the correct words. "Seven." He paused for a moment to make sure he was ready. "Six." Then He cried out the words necessary "Chaos Control!"

Pinkie Pie fell onto the floor, the chair having disappeared under her rump. Suddenly there was the sound of a magical discharge. She looked over at her friends, and saw them prepared for battle. "Hey guys, what did I miss?" She asked as cheerfully as possible. "Great, now you show up." Exclaimed Rainbow Dash somewhat angrily. "Well, as you can probably see darling, negotiations have failed and we were about to have to snap you out of your little trance, thing. We're going to have to use the Elements of harmony on him, are you ready?" asked the purpel and white unicorn. "Yes indeedly-doo Rarity." Twilight then said "Alright, here goes nothing then."

They felt the magic of the elements of harmony surround them, nearly bringing them together as one, and focused them at Discord. A rainbow colored beam shot at him, then it changed directions, heading for the sky. The energy wrapped itself around and around, until in the center a white light appeared. Discord simply laughed and said "I do believe chaos has won this round, don't you?" He then disappeared. Then the white light exploded, and everything went dark.


	2. Chapter 2: Magic exe

**Power reboot initiated**… checking power levels. Warning! Power levels at 12%, strenuous activity is non-advisable. Assessing damage… no injuries detected. **Sensory perceptions reactivating**. When his eyes reactivated, he saw that he was in the middle of a castle; the time was around about noon. 'Primary objective: Destroy Robotonik put on hold. New Objective: Discover location initiated.' **Connecting with satellites… Error!** Cannot connect to satellites. 'Either this place cannot get a satellite signal, or that energy blast that took me away from the Death Egg knocked out the satellites as well. Either way, I will have to determine my current location by other means.' Getting up from where he had fallen, he surveyed the area, finding several unconscious beings lying near him. Why were they all unconscious? That's not a normal occurrence for anyone. This day was getting more peculiar every moment. These beings were also odd to him because they were horses that seemed to walk on two legs. Those were rare enough on Mobius, not to mention the fact that there were more than just horses. There were also Pegasi and Unicorns in the mix, all with varying coat and mane colors. This place was definitely not on Mobius that was for sure. But if he wasn't on Mobius, where was he? Suddenly, one of the beings stirred, a white unicorn with a blue mane in armor. 'Perhaps this one will tell me where I am.' He thought to himself.

Shining Armor woke up with the worst headache he had ever had. Moments ago he had been tending his royal post as guardian of the princesses when a huge white light burst through the entirety of the Equestria, knocking him out. As he got up, he noticed something odd about his hooves. Then he realized that that was because they weren't hooves, but hands. What in Celestia's name was going on here? And his legs weren't in their regular position, instead designed to stand solely on his hind legs. What sort of magic could cause a transformation like that? And as he looked around in front of himself, he realized he wasn't the only one. All of Canterlot's court and the guards had been transformed in this way. Had Discord caused this? His sister had gone to stop him, had she failed? "Excuse me," asked a cold voice behind him "I wish to inquire the name of this place." He turned around and was subsequently deposited onto his ass when he saw a gigantic metal creature behind him.

His eye's widened in terror as he looked at the thing, with its blue spikes on the back of its head, metallic fingers, and red eyes piercing into his soul. "What are you?" he asked, terrified. It tilted its head slightly, answering "I am unit MS01, I am sorry if my appearance frightens you but I need to know where I am." 'It just wants to know where it is? This day is getting stranger by the second.' He heard some of the other guards getting up and decided to get rid of this… thing as soon as possible. He stood up and said "You are in Canterlot, and are trespassing on the property of Princesses Celestia and Luna, so I suggest you leave as quickly as possible." The robot just stared at the unicorn, replying "If that was a threat, I suggest you retract it as soon as possible. I have no desire to harm you or your men, but if provoked I will use force." "Sir, what is that thing?" asked one of the guards behind him. "I am a robot," Answered the mechanical being to the guards "and I will be leaving as soon as I have a map to this planet, if it would not be too much to ask?" Armor spoke to his troops "One of you, go check on the princesses immediately, the rest of us will keep an eye on him, got it?" One of them ran towards the princesses' chambers, as the metallic being spoke in a seemingly exasperated voice. "Is this truly necessary? I do not mean harm to any of you, but I need to know my way around. If I get a map I will be on my way, and you can go back to your…" He never finished that sentence, for a guard called "The Princesses are missing! Sound the alarm!"

The guards all looked at him and readied their weapons, ready to let this stranger have what was coming to him. Shining Armor looked at him and asked "Are you behind this?" To which the robot angrily replied "Don't be ridiculous, I don't even know where I am. Why would I take your rulers then stick around and ask questions?" He mused over this for a second before saying "You have a point, but I do not trust you at any rate. First a white light washes over our land, then our princesses disappear, and now you show up, and I don't think that's a coincidence, do you?" Suddenly his sensors picked up a massive surge of unknown energy above him. When he looked up, he could hardly believe his optics. Gigantic manta rays flew through the sky, each with a chain going around itself, seemingly holding something important up. The guards seemed to notice this and looked up as well, seeing the giant beasts. "What in Celestia's name is that?!" cried one of them. All were dumbfounded, and none could answer because their minds had frozen in shock, save one. **Begin analysis:** Massive energy spike detected, checking for compatibility with chaos drives… 95.79% chance of compatibility. Suggest checking for recharge purposes. Approximate usage of current power… 2%. **Analysis end. **With that, he flew towards the flying beasts, ignoring the calls of the guards to stop. As he flew, he thought to himself 'What could cause such a powerful discharge of energy?'

As Twilight Sparkle awoke, she admittedly felt weird. She could feel wind in places she had never even known existed, and she felt different, almost like she was in a body that wasn't hers. When she got up, she realized why that was. Attached to her chest were two balloon-like appendages that hadn't been there, her fore hooves had fingers, and she could stand tall on her back legs. 'How did this happen?' she thought. Was this transformation the result of Elements of Harmony's power mixing with that bright light? Was anypony else involved in this transformation? Why did she look like this? As a matter of fact, where was she right now? Were her friends nearby? "Calm down Twilight, first thing you have to do is determine where you are. Then you can worry about your friends." She checked for a quick second, realizing that the Element of Magic was still with her before continuing. She took a look around, seeing a couple of old buildings around where she was and a tower in front of her, but as she looked past the buildings she saw nothing but sky and clouds. Perhaps she was in Cloudsdale? No, don't be foalish. Cloudsdale was white; this place was all brown and old. She hadn't heard of any places like that in any of the books she read. Perhaps she'd know more if she got up higher? That seemed to be her best option, and so, after a few wobbles and falls, she began walking towards the tower.

When she arrived at the top, she looked down and almost immediately got dizzy. This stretch of 'land' was really on the back of a huge manta ray, and they must have been very high up for she could see the ground for miles. She could also see other manta rays similarly adorned with buildings, all connected by thick ropes. "There must be a way down from here,' she thought, 'maybe on one of the other rays? It's certainly a better option than staying here and waiting for a rescue that might not come.' As she turned to put her plan into action, she noticed a purple and green spiked creature lying on the ground. "Spike!?" she cried, hoping that her dragon assistant and friend was alright. Without much thought, she ran towards the spot where he lay, hoping that he was fine. His body was limp as she approached, but he was breathing. Focusing, she tried to scan him for injuries using her horn, but her horn redirected the magic into her hands. Not questioning it, she ran her hand over Spike, finding that the baby dragon was fine. He had probably slept through the entire thing, the lazy reptile. 'Wait, how did Spike get here? He was back at the library when they had run after Discord. Why would he end up here?' It didn't matter at the moment. Right now she had an unconscious dragon and several strange manta cities to explore. Suddenly, a high pitched squeal of a voice came from behind her. "Twilight! I'm so happy to see you!" exclaimed a very excited and strange looking Pinkie Pie. The same changes that had happened to Twilight had happened to her, though it seemed her element stayed with her. "I've been looking all around to see if anypony was up and running and when I woke up I had these I don't even know what they are but they look so funny and I have hands now, always wanted hands but they wouldn't let me have them, and I've been looking around and found some mmph!" Twilight's hand promptly came over the pink pony's mouth. "Pinkie, calm down, take a breath, then tell me what you found." asked a somewhat exasperated Sparkle. She followed her friend's advice, sucking in as much air as she could before speaking again. "I found a couple of nice looking buildings and saw some giant manta rays, the city is on top of them you know, and I also saw a few floaty things and I tried to make friends with them but they just threw stuff at me, I don't think that's very nice do you?" "What are you talking about, what floaty things?" "Those." She said, looking behind her.

They were indeed floating beings. They were very well built up in their upper bodies and arms, but had no legs to speak of. They were like some kinds of spirits she had read about, but there were no pictures of a beast like that in her books. Suddenly one of them puffed up and started belching flames! She grabbed spike and got him out of the way, Pinkie also did so, skipping gracefully out of their way, while the other ones tried to punch her. She had to get rid of these guys, but how? She'd have to use magic, but she didn't know how her new body could handle an attack beam like that. Suddenly, she heard a thud. Pinkie had been hit. They were closing in to finish her off, when she felt magic coursing through her body. She unleashed it at the beings; closing her eyes and feeling it exit her body. When she looked up, they had all been expelled, leaving only traces of a black substance behind. Pinkie got up with an awe filled expression. Then she started talking again.

"Ohmygosh that was so awesome! I mean the way you went 'vwoosh' then they all went "aaagh" *splat* was amazing I don't think I've ever seen anything like that! At least I haven't seen you do that before!" "To be honest Pinkie, I've never felt anything like that before either. Maybe I'm just getting a bit too stressed out with everything that's going on, and I'd really like to know just what is going on. But first, we have to find a way down from here, and I suspect that is on one of the other rays. Let's see if we can't wake Spike up." They tried several different things, none of them successful. Suddenly, as Twilight looked at her pink friend, she noticed that she had a light bulb on top of her head, which suddenly lit up as she seemed to have inspiration. Before she could ask why the light bulb was on her head, she got next to Spike and in a perfect imitation of Rarity's voice, said "Spike darling, time to wake up." No sooner had she said this, the young dragon seemed to stir, rubbing his eyes and groggily asking for Rarity. Twilight puzzledly asked "How did you know that was going to work?" "Don't question the results Twiley." She answered in imitation of Applejack. As Spike finally opened his eyes and saw the transformation that had befallen his friend, he asked bewildered "What happened to you two?" "No time to explain Spike, we have to get down from here and we need you to be on your toes, okay?" Spike, after taking a look around, simply nodded his head. Then a sound started growing over the wind, a whooshing and roaring sound that seemed to get closer and closer, until it was almost deafening. When it had finally stopped, they beheld before them a terrifying sight. It was a metal being, roughly their new height, with blue and silver coloring on its body, three spines on the back of its head, sharp metallic claws on its hands, and red piercing eyes.

This was the power source that he had detected? This purple unicorn? How could so much power come from a being such as her? Now what should he do? There was no way he could power down and recharge with all of this happening, and he couldn't use a being to power him up, it was against everything he was fighting for. Suddenly, the pink one sprung up and started speaking. "Hi there Mr. Robot, I'm Pinkie Pie, the official welcome pony of Ponyville, and though we aren't there right now I'll give you a big ol' welcome to Equestria! Were you always a robot? Can you analyze data faster than Twilight can think? Do you need to eat? Is your favorite color blue? I bet it is, I've never seen a pony who painted anything that blue whose favorite color wasn't also blue. What kind of energy do you run off of? Why are your eyes red and black? Say, what's your name anyway?" The purple one seemed dumbfounded at what the pink pony was doing, but he was glad for the actual happy greeting he had gotten from her. He replied. "I am unit MS01, and I must thank you for your warm greeting. I have not gotten such a warm greeting from organics in many years." "Well, I hope you don't mind me asking, but what exactly are you?" asked the unicorn. "I am an artificially intelligent robot, designed by one Dr. Robotonic for menial tasks and defense." He hoped she bought his lie; he didn't want them to know his true purpose until he was sure he could trust them. "You mean you're a learning robot?" he nodded in reply. "What are you doing here? Where did you come from?" "I just came from a place called Canterlot. I was inquiring about a map to this planet when my scanners picked up an immense energy spike from up here." "Canterlot's right below our hooves? And you just flew from there? Can you fly us down there?" He made some calculations based on weight and power usage before he replied. "No." "No? And why not?" asked a small purple and green dragon. "I cannot carry two of you without being too heavy to slow down and it would take to up to much of my energy before going into mandatory recharge mode to carry you each individually. However, there must be a way to get away from here on one of those other creatures. I suggest looking there first." They all agreed that that was probably their best option, and went for the connecting rope.

They had found it connected to the back of their ray and, after introducing themselves to each other, went that way, Pinkie Pie relentlessly asking questions along the way. Not least of which was "Do you have a nickname? Don't get me wrong but 'MS01 just sounds too formal." He thought for a second before answering. "Organics on my home world had given me the moniker 'Metal Sonic' because I bore a resemblance to a deceased hero of the same name." "Alright then, but should we call you Metal? Or Sonic?" "Either way works." Twilight had a question this time. "What was this Sonic like? Did you know him?" "That is a question for another time. We are where we need to be after all." Indeed they were there, but now they had a new problem, which Sparkle voiced immediately. "How are we supposed to get over there? I don't think I have any tightrope walking skills, and rope burn is not on my list of fun activities for the day." They took a look around for something that could be of use to them. Then, Metal Sonic spotted two cloths; each seemed strong enough to support ponies of their approximate weight. He showed them the ropes, and they all agreed that it should work. Then Spike said "Hey, what about me? Don't I get a cloth?" Metal answered him. "No, you're coming with me, and we're going first." "What?" cried Twilight "You can't do this, Spike's only a baby, what if he gets hurt?" "I assure you he will come to no harm while I watch over him, besides, I'm the only one with combat expertise, and I can handle most situations thrown at me. He will be fine." She looked like she wanted to say something, but never did. She relented, and then Spike jumped on Metal's back. He grabbed onto the rope, lifted his feet, and then activated his boosters on his back. That gave much momentum on the rope, propelling them at many mph. It wasn't long before they were on the other side. Spike got off and said in awe, "That was awesome! Can you go that fast all the time?" "No, my boosters run on my power source, and I usually have to recharge after a while." Then, a sound alerted them to the presence of other beings. Three floating strong-arms, plus four sword wielding ground walkers and two with crossbows. Metal readied himself, while Spike hid behind a rock, not wanting to fight.

The swordsmen charged first, going at Metal with their slashes, but he merely jumped over them, coming down with a clash on one of them. Then a crossbow bolt grazed his left arm, but he barely noticed it, going after one of the strong-arms. He performed a homing attack, which seemed to phase it, but it didn't go down. Perhaps two in a row would do the trick. He tried it again, this time following up his first attack with a second. The beast was destroyed in seconds. Another bolt shot past him, and he determined that the crossbowmen were his best target. He jumped toward one of them and slashed, knocking the thing down. The other one took aim, but Metal sidestepped it and punched the other one in the gut. Unfortunately this hadn't stopped either of them, both getting back up. Analysis activated: regular attacks have no effect on ground walkers. Perhaps addition of chaos energy will suffice in destruction. He charged his arm with energy and hit the crossbowman again, this time it stooped down, obviously hurt. He slashed at it, and it exploded in a black mist. Knowing what to do, he summoned his arm cannon and charged it up, aiming for the other crossbowmen. He fired, another explosion, then the strong-arms attacked again, one of them belching fire. He was scorched, but nonetheless fine, and leaped up, firing again and again and again, until only one swordsman remained when he landed. It looked like it was about to charge, when a giant axe went through its helmet, destroying it. Metal looked at the axe, then its wielder, a pink pony with a giant smile on her face. He looked behind himself and saw Twilight standing next to spike, obviously impressed with what had just happened. "Well, you certainly weren't kidding when you said you had combat expertise. How did you do that?" He simply answered in a cold mechanical voice "It is all a matter of testing enemy's strengths and weaknesses before finishing them off. Now let us continue our search for a way down. I only have eight percent power left, and I don't want to use it unwisely." She nodded, but then asked "How much power do you have before mandatory shutdown?" "Two percent. Let us be on our way."

They searched for something, anything that could aid them in getting down from there, but they had no such luck. Not so much as a blanket large enough for a parachute was found on that ray, so they went over to the next one. They looked all over, getting rid of all the ground-walkers and strong-arms they came across, not finding anything, until… "**Power levels detected**. Scanning, power detected in cloth on floor, known commonly as a rug." He pointed at an Arabian style carpet that was large enough to hold all of them comfortably. "What are you talking about Sonic? Are you saying that that carpet has power in it? Is it some kind of, flying carpet?" Pinkie jumped up and down in excitement. "Ooh, I've never been on a flying carpet before! Hello Mr. Carpet, do you think you can take me and my friends on a ride down to the ground below us?" The carpet lifted off the ground, did a couple of twists and somersaults, and then lay back down. "Thank you Mr. Carpet. He said he'll do it for one itsy bitsy favor." "Since when do you speak mat Pinkie Pie? And what do you mean favor?" asked Spike. "I can do a whole lot more than you realize friendo. As for the favor, he wants us to slay a giant shadow drake or something." "I'm sorry, did you say a SHADOW DRAKE?!" yelled Twilight at the ever cheerful pony. That's what I said, you aren't going deaf already are you Twilight? That would be seriously bad for you." "Forgive me for my inquiry, but what exactly is a shadow drake?" "It's a creature of legends, though some say they're only parts of old mare's tales. According to my '_Guide to Mythical and Legendary Creatures_' book back in Canterlot, they are Dragons that are black as the night itself, breathing black flame and going out unseen in the night. Supposedly, you can only see one in the daytime because at night their natural camouflage hides them from all eyes, but even then you don't usually see them because they're too fast to see. They can be up at any time of the day or night, but usually keep to themselves because they don't want any trouble, coming out only to hunt or drink or find a new home every once in a while. Pinkie, could you ask the carpet why we need to slay this creature?" Fortunately, it seemed to understand English, did a few twirls, and lay back down again. "What did it say this time?" "He said that it scared away all the people then took up residence in one of the buildings. He can't be a good carpet if there's no one for him to take from place to place, now can he?" two of the rugs tassels nodded in agreement. "Where can we find this shadow drake?" asked Metal. It took a look around then quivered, seemingly to say it was too close. Pinkie then said nonchalantly "Right over our heads sillies." Then a screech sounded from overhead accompanied by giant wing flaps, announcing the arrival of the giant beast.

It was enormous and had a body built for high speed, with a giant wide and flat head, black scales, a two finned tail, and green eyes that seemed dazed. Then suddenly, its eyes got a red tinge, and then focused on them. It breathed in an enormous breath, and then sent it flying at them. They were fortunate enough to get away from it in time, running through the building for cover. It flapped after them quite lazily, almost as if it wasn't really after them. But it wanted a piece of them that was for sure. "What are we going to do? That thing is huge! How are supposed to stop something like that?" exclaimed Twilight, obviously exasperated with this whole ordeal. "I will get its attention and study it for weaknesses." stated Metal, having done this hundreds of times before. Without a word more, he stepped into the dragon's line of sight. **Hostile detected:** Analyzing for strengths and weaknesses. Body designed for speed and agility, reasons for not using these strong assets? Unknown. Claws assumed deadly at close range, fire deadly at longer ranges. Suggest testing strength of beast before analysis continues. **Activating combat mode**. He jumped and hit it in the gut with a homing attack, but it wasn't phased by this and swiped at him with its claws. It missed, and this time he pulled out his cannon, hoping it would do more, he fired once. It seemed to hurt it, but it didn't do much. Then he got hit by its tail back into the building. Twilight let out a somewhat girlish scream, surprised by what had happened. "Are you all right Sonic?" she asked, seeming concerned. "I have been hit by worse, Miss Sparkle. If you wish my advice on defeating this creature, an energy blast should do the trick." "Are you sure?" "76.8% sure." "I suppose that will have to do." She closed her eyes, concentrating on summoning as big a blast as possible. The drake looked through the window, ready to scorch them to oblivion, when she let it all out.

The beast stumbled backwards, obviously shaken by the force of the magic blast. Its eyes were green again, and it shook its head as if a fog were lifted. Then they turned red again, and it roared and flew away, shooting fireballs at them from far away. They hid away from all doors and windows, meeting to ask themselves what to do. "Wow Twilight, that last blast seemed to do the trick! One more hit like that, and he'll be done for sure!" exclaimed Spike. Twilight held her head, feeling slightly dizzy and answered "I don't think I can give out another blow like that Spike, my head wouldn't be able to handle it." "Well what else can we do?" Metal Sonic looked out the window, calculating the amount of force along with the amount of power required in order to get over where the dragon hovered and the percentage of power left in him. "Impossible." He said, which prompted the unicorn to ask "What's impossible?" "I have enough power to stop it from terrorizing, but in order to do that I need the momentum to get over there, and I can't do that without running out of power. If we had something that could get me over to it, I could knock it out, but we don't so we need another plan." "Okie-Dokie-Lokie! How about this?" asked Pinkie, pulling out a giant pink cannon. Metal Sonic eyed it and asked in a confused voice "Where did that cannon come from?" "This old thing? I've had it for a while now; I call it my party cannon because it can shoot just about anything at the speed of party!" "Just how fast is 'the speed of party'?" "Here, I'll show you!" she exclaimed, pulling on a little string, shooting confetti out of the window. He calculated the velocity of the confetti and the force of the cannon, then combined that with the data he had gleaned earlier. "That is sufficient. Listen to me; I'm going to load myself into the cannon, and when I tell you to, fire it, understood?" Pinkie put her hand flat against her head in a salute. He then rolled into a ball and put himself in the cannon. They all maneuvered it to point at the dragon and waited for the signal. Seconds passed like minutes, till finally the robotic voice cried "Fire!" With a giant boom and whistling air, the robot headed at break-neck speeds towards its foe. When he got close, he activated his chaos field, shocking the dragon as it fell from the sky. Then, Metal heard the voice in his head. **Warning!** Power levels at 2%, mandatory shut down mode commencing. Everything then went black.

She couldn't believe her eyes. Metal Sonic had done it! The creature fell from the sky for a moment, before something black fell from it onto the nearest ray. The drake then shook its head, its head clear of whatever had it in its spell and began to fly fast as the eye could see. Then she looked at Sonic, only to see to her horror that he was falling to the ground miles below. She couldn't get to him in time she knew, but she felt obligated to do something to help. Then another screech was heard, and as she looked up, she saw the drake grab Sonic in its talons and carry him straight back to them. When he had returned, she personally thanked the Drake for its assistance, earning a slight blush from it before it took off again. They gathered around their new metal friend, looking at his still form. "Is he dead?" asked Spike. Twilight scanned him, and finding power within him she said quite relieved "He's fine, I think he just went into automatic shutdown mode." Then, they heard an evil laugh coming from behind them, along with a slow clap. They turned around, seeing a black and grey hedgehog, green eyes glowing like venom as it walked towards them. "Who are you, and what do you want?" asked Twilight. "Who am I?" mocked the being, who had no lips at all. "I am Mephiles the dark, and I must give you nags credit. You defeated me as if I was nothing! Though I doubt you could have done it without that metal blue bot scout at your side." He then took a look at him, and had a look on his face, as if seeing an old friend. "So it really is you? Or a version of you at any rate. I wonder if you know that, or if you are really the metal pawn you claim to be? It doesn't matter. It will take more than you and a couple of your friends to stop me this time. This time, I will rule all, and there is nothing any of you can do to stop me. Do you hear me? NOTHING! AH HAHAHAHAHAA!" He then disappeared into the shadows.

Pinkie Pie herself seemed to be somewhat unnerved by what he had said, but then she put her smile on once he was gone. "Uh, T-Twilight? What do you think he meant by what he said?" "If I said I knew Spike, I'd probably be lying to everypony." Just then, the carpet flew over towards them, twirling and twisting in excitement. Pinkie looked for a second before translating. "He says thank you for keeping your word, I will now do as I promised and take you to the world below us." "What about our metal friend here? Can you carry us and him without being too heavy or dropping him to the ground?" The carpet stood on its tassels, almost looking like it was offended by what she had said. "He said he's flown passengers before in conditions worse than his. He'll be just fine Twilight, let's just get down from here." And so, with all that settled, they all climbed onto the back of the carpet and began the descent towards Canterlot.


	3. Chapter 3: Everfree, Ever Confusing

Sinbad had been wandering in the forest for a while now, hoping to find some way out. But no way was forthcoming. He hadn't seen Rannah since that flash of light had washed over him, but if that blast of light had sent him here, it could have flung her somewhere else entirely. He should climb a tree; find the nearest buildings he could so he could walk to them, maybe even get some help. As he did so, he saw some interesting buildings, all full of color and life, unlike many things he had seen before. He then took a look down at the tree to find where the moss was growing thickest to find where north was. It was an old trick he had learned from a western tracker on one of his adventures. The moss was pointing past the town, which was on the trees' left. He needed to head east, which was good enough for him.

He began his trek eastward, which should only take a few minutes provided he didn't get lost. Then, he heard something, like someone was talking to themselves. As he got closer, he realized that the voice was coming from a female, and he could hear her say things. "Check out this new bod. How am I supposed to fly like this? Man, I wish one of the others were here, they might actually have an idea that at least sounded like it could work." When speaker was finally revealed, he saw a cyan skinned horse woman with wings on her back, magenta eyes, and rainbow colored hair and tail. "Excuse me," he asked "but could I ask what your name is?"

She took a long look at him before asking him. "Just what in the whole wide world of sports are you?" "I am an echidna dear girl, however, I did ask for your name first, so it is proper etiquette that you give me your name first." She seemed somewhat put off by his seemingly over proper attitude, and answered "Name's Rainbow Dash, what's it to ya?" "Charmed." He replied sarcastically. "I am called Sinbad, an adventurer from far off lands. Nice to meet you." He then held out his hand, waiting for hers. She stared for a second before extending hers and giving a firm shake.

"Well, now that the pleasantries are out of the way, you don't happen to know where we are, do you? I've never been here before, so I'm afraid I'm lost." "No prob bob! Just give me a few seconds to get off the ground, and we'll know exactly where we are." She then spread her wings and began flapping, lifting off above the tree line. She then called down "Hey! We're in the Everfree Forest! Ponyville's just a stone's throw away from here!" 'Ponyville?' thought Sinbad. 'What an odd name for a town. Ah well, when in Rome…' "The Everfree Forest huh. Is it enchanted?" "No way man. Sure there are extremely dangerous and deadly creatures spread throughout, a couple of ruins here and there, sometimes with like, crazy powerful relics, Oh! I almost forgot about Zecora!"

"And who is this Zecora?" he asked. "She's a zebra, we used to think she was a witch but then she cured us of a terrible disease and everything was fine. She knows a lot about diseases and natural medicine, maybe she knows why I look like this." That caught his attention. "What, do you not normally look like this?" "No, usually I walk on all fours, not my back-legs, and I have hooves and I don't have, these things." She said, gesturing towards her chest as she said the last part. To be fair, they were quite small, even for his tastes, still, he was only human, as it were. "Hmm, I think you look better now, if your description is accurate." "Nice of you to say, but I'd personally like to get back to looking like myself, not like this." "Oh, one more thing. I'd prefer if you didn't call me Bob, it's not my name." "Okay, okay, jeez. You really shouldn't be so uptight about that. Say, wanna race to her hut?" "I might, if I even knew where said hut was, but as it is, we should just keep moving." And so they did.

It was several minutes before they found her hut, a small wooden dome with strange and exotic smells exiting it through the windows and the door. They knocked, hoping to gain entrance, when they heard a voice from inside. "Who comes here to my frightful home, surely a traveler who is anxious to roam, far away to distant lands, from mountains high to hot dry sands?" Sinbad was not amused by her riddle speak and said "Listen lady, I know you're trying to sound all mysterious and all that, but I've heard several people make with the rhyming talk, and all it manages to do is give me a giant headache, so how about we cut this out and get down to business?" Dash elbowed him and said "Zee, its Rainbow Dash. My friend Sinbad and I are trying to figure out what is going on here, and I need your help. Could you let us in?" There was a silence, until the door slowly opened with a creaking noise.

They entered into the hut, and saw Zecora on her hind legs, the changes apparently having happened to her as well. Sinbad took a look around, seeing many curios and plants, things which he had seen before in other places like this. He then saw several strange looking masks on the walls, and he said "Nice place you've got here, though it seems a bit… familiar." He then got a look of horror on his face, and he asked "Uhh, you don't happen to know a person by the name of Tia Dalma, do you?" "Of who you speak I know not, but surely all that standing makes your feet rot. Come and sit by my nice warm fire, and I will try not to raise your ire." He took her advice and grabbed a chair for himself, and Dash did so for herself. Sinbad was then handed a cup. Curious he asked "What's this?" to which the zebra mystic replied "You say my rhyme-talk gives you migraines, it's a little something to help with the pain." "A mystic with a sense of humor? That's a new one." He replied sarcastically.

"Listen, Zee, what's going on around here? Is it some kinda magic or something? Is there something we can do to get rid of it?" asked an excited Dash. "A powerful outburst of magic it was, but uncertain am I as to the cause." "What happened here exactly?" asked the echidna, curious as to what happened. Zecora put her hand under her chin and said "First a white light did burst through the air, causing everything to go to black and despair. Then when I did come to awake, my body took on a new shape." "I'm sorry; did you say a white light? Was it in the form of a wave?" Zecora nodded her head. "Why'd you ask that?" questioned the pegasus. "That was exactly what I saw before I was ripped away from my home and ended up here." "Now we get somewhere you see, because of what happened to you and me. I can sense you are not of this world, but someone's plans must have been unfurled. No accident was this that brought you here, but what intentions they have are still unclear. Perhaps the source of the magic can be traced, but to do that you must go someplace…" She paused for a moment, allowing what had just been said to be absorbed.

"What do you someone's plans? Who? Do you know whose plans Zee? Somepony planned this, you said so yourself, so…" she was then cut off. "She would have told us if she knew, but I do have one question for you. Where do we have to go?" She then said "To place we know as Canterlot, you should go there, it's only a short trot." "Thanks for the advice, we'll be going now." Dash couldn't believe it, he wanted to go now? "We can't just leave, I don't even know if there's a way we can change back." "Go on your way brave and loyal ones, the pony you seek is the princess of the sun. I must tend to the forest ever free, for another forest is within these trees. Make for the castle with due haste, off you go no time to waste." As Sinbad turned to leave, he remembered something. "Oh, if you see an echidna woman by the name of Rannah, take good care of her, you got it?" She nodded in agreement. "Good, well Miss Dash, we must be off. Thank you for your hospitality Miss Zecora." They then took their leave and headed towards the town.

They had not walked far from the hut when a sound could be heard from over top of the trees. It was a whirring sound that came with the sound of rustling leaves. Then it sounded like it was slowing and stopping over them. When Sinbad looked over and behind himself, he saw a sight that he thought he would never see again. A green hawk, a grey albatross and a purple swallow stood before them, riding ant circular platforms that hovered above the ground. "Well, well, well, what do we have here?" asked the green one. "Is that you Yumruk? Or do you prefer Sinbad now?"

"Jet'ar, what are you doing here? I thought you were in Babylon with the old gang, not out hunting." He said with a surprised look on his face. "I was in Babylon, until a giant flash of light took me and my lieutenants out to this god's forsaken forest. And imagine our surprise when we find you here, on the ground like some commoner. It suits you." "Excuse me, but could you help a clueless pegasus know what exactly is going on here?" asked an utterly bamboozled Rainbow Dash. Sinbad rubbed the back of his head before answering.

"These fine people before us are known as the Babylon Rouges, a gang of air pirates with magic that not much of the world knows about. I used to run with them before I started going through the adventures that gave me fame. He is Jet'ar, he was once one of my greatest friends, until I gained more favor with his father than he did. He was the leader of the Rouges, and we were thick as thieves back then, quite literally so. Then his father was murdered and I got the blame from him. I didn't do it of course, but he wanted to believe it so badly that he tried to kill me himself. Of course, we finally figured out it was the chef who had killed him, but after that I left and never returned." "Yes, I'm not mad at you for killing my father, but you have something that belongs to me." "And that is?" "You have my family's cloud, I'd like it back." Sinbad then slapped his hand on his forehead.

"Are you still going on about that? That was a gift from your father to me, and he said I could keep it." "IT WASN'T HIS TO GIVE UP! That cloud has been in my family since we started the Rouges, and it's been a symbol of power ever since. Since you're not in the Rouges anymore, I must demand that you return it." "If I had it, I'd give it back to you seeing as it's your families, but I don't have it right now." "Where is it?" "It's in my trophy room back home in Shamar, but if you go there you can have it back." Jet'ar pondered this before answering. "The fastest being ever accepts your offer. Let's go Rouges."

As they turned around, Rainbow flew up at them, asking "Whoa whoa whoa, you guys think that you are the fastest things ever?" "That's what I said isn't it? Why, do you want to challenge me for the title?" "That's right, you and me; your 'cloud' thingie versus my wings." Jet'ar looked at her like she wasn't serious, then smiled, about to accept the challenge. "Hey boss, we'd probably get going, don't you think?" He looked at the swallow, then the pegasus, then replied "Okay. We're going, right guys?" they all nodded then turned to leave, but the hawk looked back and said "Next time multi mane." And they all flew off further into the forest. She felt as if she was ready to fly after them and grind her hooves into his smug little face, when Sinbad called out "Hey, we need to get to Canterlot, remember? We can deal with his sorry behind later on." She got down onto the road and began walking, not speaking for a while.

After a long while, they came into Ponyville, but the town seemed deserted. Nopony was in the main hotspots around the town, so they went over towards the mayor's office. There they found every single stallion, mare, and filly in the town next to a podium, waiting for the mayor to come out, apparently for a speech. The mayor then got up and began addressing them. "Citizens of Ponyville, as all of you are well aware, we have a crisis on our hooves. This transformation into something that can only be described as strange and confusing has baffled and confused us all, but rest assured we have as many experts as we currently have working on the solution."

Some of the colts and mares then seemed to get riled up. "What experts?" cried one. "Where's Twilight Sparkle and her posse?" shouted another. "What can we do if nopony knows what's going on?" Others then began shouting similar things at the mayor, who seemed overwhelmed and on the verge of tears, but before Rainbow Dash could come bolting to her defense, she seemed to get the courage to say something.

"That's enough! I know that you're all scared, even I am. But that doesn't change the fact that whatever is going on, we must work together to get through it. I don't know where Twilight and her friends are, but I know we can find a way out of this predicament. You are stronger than you know, my friends and colleagues, especially when we work together. Now, I don't know what you'll be doing, but I'll be trying to get this town right where it needs to be. Is anypony with me?" She was answered by thunderous yes' throughout the crowd, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, Dash flew up to the podium, hoping to speak with the mayor, but was then bombarded with questions about where she had been, where her friends were, and what exactly was going on. She merely answered that she was in the Everfree Forest, she didn't know where her friends were, and though she didn't know what was going on, she and her new found echidna friend would be heading towards Canterlot castle, to see if they knew anything. Everypony seemed to agree that that was a good idea, and worked on figuring out how to work the train controls in their new state.

When she got a chance to speak to the mayor, she said "Wow, I didn't know you had that in you. How'd you do it?" She somewhat chuckled as she answered "When one is backed into the darkest corners of their mind, a pony will find the will to carry on, I suppose. Still though, I'm glad you showed up when you did. I was beginning to worry about you when you weren't in Ponyville after that, thing blacked out the entire town. Say, what about this echidna friend you mentioned? Where is he?" Suddenly, Sinbad walked out behind them and introduced himself, nearly scaring the mayor before he had even shook her hand.

After the introductions were over, they had discussed what Zecora had told them to the mayor, who then said "All of this stuff seems to be going over my head, but if anypony knows what's going on, it'd be the princess Celestia, that's for sure." Then, a brown colt with a moustache called over to them. "Miss Mayor, Miss Dash, we've got the train working again! We'd better get a move on if we want to reach Canterlot before breakfast!" Dash then took a look at the mayor and said "See you later Mayor, we've got to figure out what's going on, and fast!" she then took off for the train. Sinbad gave the mayor a simple "Farewell." before rushing for the train, ready to make for the long road to Canterlot.


	4. Chapter 4:Knights, Farmers, Fashionistas

Applejack was in a metallic corridor, looking around for any of her friends. When she had awoken, she noticed that her body had changed. She'd have wondered about it, but she knew Twilight would probably have more of an inkling than her, so she kept looking. She'd felt like she'd been walking around for hours, though it was probably only a few minutes. This place looked like it went on forever, never stopping, only with a few doors to this side or that. It didn't matter, she'd find them if she could. What were friends for anyways? Then she heard something to her left. Taking a deep breath, she turned her head around and found the white unicorn known as Rarity. She looked over her friend, making sure she had no welts or bruises on her. Fortunately she was only sleeping on the cold floor, which was quite a feat, seeing as she was quite possibly the prissiest pony you ever did see. Still, she did know quite a bit about finesse, which Applejack thought she could use a bit more of, at least a little bit.

She shook Rarity's shoulder, attempting to wake her from her sleep. It seemed to work, for she woke up, and once she cleared her eyes and took a look around, she asked "Applejack? Where are we dear and what's happened to you!? You look so different and… No!" She then began freaking out and looking at her own body, seemingly horrified by what she saw. "No! I've been mutated into something dreadful! Oh, this is truly . !" Then she started crying, to which Applejack responded with a swift hand across the face. Rarity, shocked by what her friend had just done, looked at her, then back at her own cheek, and calmly, if quietly asked "What was that for?"

"Rare, listen to me. I don't know where we are, or what's going on, but I know what we've gotta do. We've gotta find our friends, then we've gotta get out of here, but I can't do that without your help. So could you stow the questions until we get out of here?" Rarity nodded at her friend's logic, and getting up off the floor, they began going down the corridors searching for their friends.

When Miles Prower awoke from his slumber, he noticed he wasn't where he had been. When he had fallen into what he could only call a restless slumber, he had been riding his mule Francis into the woods when a gigantic wave of white energy passed over him and Lady Percival, presumably knocking both of them unconscious. Where was this place? It wasn't like anything he had seen before, metal on everything in colors of red, grey and gold. There were small places where the wall went inside of itself where he thought an opening in the wall could go, but he couldn't see if that was true or not. He looked behind himself, and seeing that it was a dead end, proceeded to go forward, hoping to find an exit.

Francis had to admit, he was feeling extremely strange right now. He knew exactly what he had always known, but he suddenly felt as if he understood it better, and he wanted to know more. Also, his body stood like his owners, on his back legs without support. He didn't mind of course. He felt a lot better about this than he probably should have. But that didn't matter. He had to find his owner. He was the only person who had been kind to him his whole life, and he felt it was unkind of him to abandon his master in such a situation. So he navigated the metallic corridors until he found a familiar looking black mare. It was Lady Percival's horse, a mare by the name of Santa Fuega, though she had been transformed into the same basic shape as him, minus looking more like a woman. He then thought of doing something he had never done before, and opened his mouth to speak…

"Hello?" asked a voice behind her. She was startled for a second, then, taking a deep breath, she turned around and saw the blacksmith's mule, standing on his hind legs. She knew that if he could speak like her master could, she could as well. So she opened her mouth and replied "Hello to you as well, young mule. Might I inquire as to what it is you are doing here?" The mule didn't understand why she would say it like that, but answered "I'm looking for my owner if you must know. He's a great guy, but he seems to find his way into trouble whether he wants it or not, so I tend to try to keep him out of it as much as possible." "Indeed young one, but seeing as we are here together, it would probably be conducive to search for them together, do you not agree?" he was puzzled for a second, but then said "While I may not know fancy words like 'conducive', your stick together idea is a good one. Let's start looking, shall we?" With a nod in agreement, they went off down the corridor.

Francis was the first to ask a question. "So what is it like, being the mount of a knight of the round table?" She answered "It is a very honorable and noble position, being chosen to have a knight on your shoulders. You get to travel to many faraway places and meet new people, and you get treated with such great respect. There are always people around to take care of you, and they seem so nice most of the time, although that's not what we always do. There are of course dangers to the job, going into battle against all sorts of terrifying creatures, running and walking on difficult terrain, and you're sure to get hurt on the job if you're at it long enough. But in the end, the honor and dignity of it all make it all worth while." She said this with a gleam in her eye, as if it were a dream come true to be doing all of this. Francis however, was not impressed. "Well, isn't that just fine and dandy." He said with an overly sarcastic tone. "You dare to mock me!? What do you think gives you that right, little mule?" she asked, angrily at the mule who dared to mock her place in the world.

He sighed and looked straight at her, tired brown eyes meeting blazing blue, and he told her what was on his mind. "You horses may get the greatest respect from humans and other mobians, but us pack mules are not so well treated. We're the ones who take the heaviest burdens, and we're always berated for being stupider than other creatures, and we get beaten if we do one thing wrong, or don't do it fast enough. The only thing we usually get that isn't that bad is indifference from most people, and that's because people only come for us when they need some heavy or degrading work done for them. That's the reason I'm looking for my owner right now. He actually treats me with respect, and while he does ask me to help him haul things over long distances and do work he can't, he doesn't beat or berate me if I do something wrong, and he gives me a reward afterwards. He's the best and only friend I've ever had, and I'm going to find him." He then walked off, leaving the black mare wondering about what he had said.

Applejack and Rarity felt as if they had been walking for hours in this corridor, trying to find any of their friends, but each of the doors they found just led to more and more corridors, plus it was difficult to navigate because all the halls looked the same. Nevertheless they kept moving, determined to find somepony to help them out. Then, they heard something akin to hooves tapping on the ground in front of them. "Someponies' coming. Quick, let's hide in this hall till we can get a look at 'em, see if they're friend or foe." said the earth pony. Rarity quickly agreed and they hid in the corridor, the sounds coming closer and closer, until two beings came into their line of sight. One was a black earth pony, a mare by the looks of her. The other was an ornery looking mule that was brown in color. As they went past, the mule suddenly stopped. His ears were twitching.

"What is it?" asked Santa Fuega. "I hear something." He replied, ears twitching at a soft, but unmistakable sound of people breathing. "It's coming from over… there." He said, pointing to a door that was next to them. Then, two horse-like beings came out of the door, hands raised and ready to fight. One was an orange horse with a blonde mane in a pigtail and a brown hat on her head. The other was a white unicorn with a purple mane that was all curled and fancy. "Well, just who are you two?" he asked. "Funny, we were just about to ask you two the same question. What do ya think we should do partner?" asked the orange one, to which the unicorn replied "Maybe we should hear them out darling, after all, they don't look like bad folk to me." They took a look at each other before finally the mule spoke.

"Alright, so my name's Francis and the war horse next to me is named Santa Fuega." The black mare looked indignant at that and said "You fool, you asked them first! It's only proper for them to introduce themselves first." "Listen, I don't give a damn about your 'properness'. The fastest way out of this for us is to show them we trust them, okay?" She pondered this for a second before nodding, and then she said "Alright, but we'd like your names, if it's not too much to ask." The purple maned one spoke first. "Of course it's no trouble dear. My name is Rarity, and my rambunctious friend over here is…" "My name's Applejack, and I don't suppose ya know where the hay we are, do ya?" They both shook their heads, not having a single clue.

"Alrighty then, what exactly are ya doing in here?" "We're looking for our owners, a small fox-like being, and a purple cat in armor. You haven't seen them have you?" the two seemed puzzled after he had finished, and Rarity asked "Owners? Whatever do you mean Mr. Francis?" "I mean the people who spent money on me so I could work for them until I was either dead or sold again. Don't you have owners?" Applejack shook her head while Rarity said "Nopony owns anypony else, that would just be wrong. As a matter of fact, why do they own you? You're sentient creatures; they shouldn't have any claim on you." "Well, we didn't exactly have the ability or knowhow to complain before now, at any rate, what are you two doing here?" "We were looking for our friends, have you seen them?" "We haven't seen anybody around here and, wait a second 'anypony'? What kind of a word is that?" "It's a word that means any and every pony around, regardless of what they look, smell, or sound like, and it is not a stupid word! It's…" Applejack then whistled to get their attention. "Listen y'all, we don't have a lot of answers right now, so how's about we find somepony who does?" There was a silent consensus, and they turned down the hall that the two mares had come out of.

Lady Percival had been travelling through this metal corridor for a while, though it was impossible to tell how long it had been since she had awoken in this strange place. In all her years of being a knight, never had she seen something like these metal walls that surrounded her. It was curious, after she had awoken in this place, she felt like she was in confinement, but there were no locks on any of the doors, and nobody was walking down the halls. What had happened after the flash? Were she and the blacksmith taken by a group of rouges to some cavern that was unknown to them? Was that flash made of magical energy, and did it teleport them here? So many questions, too few answers. Then her ears heard something, footsteps approaching her. Hiding behind her door, she put her hand on her saber, hoping not to be discovered. The footsteps stopped in front of the door, and a hissing sound issued forth from it. She drew her sword and turned to find the blacksmith in her face.

She eased slightly before berating the fox. "Mr. Prower, thou dost know that it is a bad idea to sneak up on a knight, correct?" He looked slightly ashamed at that before saying "I'm sorry milady; I did not know that thou were behind this door before I opened it, else I would have told you it was I." She thought for a second, a small smile cracking across her face. "Tis alright my young friend, I am just glad I didn't cut you before I realized it was you. I must ask you though; dost thou know where we are?" Miles merely shook his head. "Then perhaps tis time to find a way out. Come along young one." They went down the corridor, only to be stopped by four horse-like creatures headed their way.

The first thing Francis did when he saw his owner was run towards him, a giant smile on his face. He didn't realize that his master might not recognize him in his current state. He stopped inches from his face, and he said "Master! It's so good to see you again sir. You don't know how much I was missing that foxish face of yours. I have to say, this just may be the…" He stopped then because of the cold steel pressed to his neck. "Who are you, and why are you bothering my young friend?" He took a look at himself and realized the problem almost immediately. "Well Lady Percival, you're not going to believe this, but I'm his mule Francis. The black mare behind me is your horse, and the other two are apparently pre-sentient horses."

To say that the both of them were shocked was an understatement. They were frozen for a minute before Lady Percival asked "If you are truly my horse, then you will know the answer to this question. What were the names of my colleagues in arms?" Fuega thought for only a second before answering "Sirs Lancelot, Gawain, Galahad, and Sonic before he left for his home." Percival still couldn't believe it, but the mule was right. These were their mounts. "If you don't mind me asking, how did you change into something like this?" asked Miles. "I don't know sir, maybe it's some kind of magic." "Whatever the reason, we need to find my friends and get the hay outta here." said Applejack. They agreed over this and continued their search for a way out.

There were countless questions hurled about the hall as they walked, Rarity in particular gave excessive details about her fashion business which gave Francis a headache. Suddenly, a part of the wall turned itself around, coming to life on a screen that was red, with a yellow and black logo that looked like a round mustached head. In front of it popped a black bar with words that said 'password' over top of it. A board with letters popped out of the wall in front of the screen. "What do you suppose this thing is?" asked Rarity. "No idea, but if it requires a password, it must have some important information." replied the two tailed fox. "What do you think the password is?" Miles thought for a moment, nothing seemed right to him. Then he had something, like a memory he never had before. _'"I've got it, the password is Eggman!" said a two tailed fox over a computer._' He then took a look at the keyboard and typed in Eggman. Low and behold, the console opened up and a microphone popped out of it. "Access granted. Welcome back Doctor." said the computer in a feminine voice. "That was amazing! How did you know what to put in there?" asked Percival. "I don't know. It just felt like it was the right password. Well, what do we do now?"

Applejack grabbed the microphone, speaking into it with an almost frantic voice. "Is there anypony else in here? Where are they?" "Request processing, scanning station for all forms of equine life, scan end in approximately three minutes." They all waited around for the machine to finish its scan, all quiet as mice until the machine finally stated "Four equine life forms aboard near terminal 274. Any further inquiries Doctor?" Applejack looked dejected. "I guess they aren't here then. So what now?"

Tails then grabbed the microphone and asked "Where exactly are we?" "Impossible to say where, however, the window shields may be lifted up if you wish to see for yourself. Do you wish to continue this action?" They looked at each other, each agreeing that getting a look at where they were was a good idea. "Please continue." said Miles. "Lowering window shields." replied the computer, gear like sounds coming from the inverted walls behind the computer. As they looked, they saw a sight that not one of them would forget in their lives.

Outside the window was a gigantic blue and green orb, beside it and farther away was the moon, a small thing, but still impressive. Behind the orb was a glare, followed by blackness and several small dots of light. They were speechless for minutes before the blacksmith asked "What is that?" There wasn't an answer until Rarity squeaked out "I'm not entirely sure, but that particular stretch of land looks a lot like Cube'a doesn't it?" She was pointing to a small island in the middle of a gulf. Applejack then realized what she was saying and sputtered "By Celestia, we're out in space!" "And what pray tell is space, my orange coated friend?" "Well, it's kind of hard to explain but, we're out were the moon and the sun and stars are when we don't see 'em." Percival thought a second before saying "You mean to tell me we are in the heavens themselves? How is that even possible?" "We can ask that question after we figure out how to get down from here." Replied Miles.

He then asked the computer "Is there a way down from here?" A map of the place revealed it to be orb shaped as well, with two eye divots and a metallic moustache on it. Then several places appeared on the map, along with ways to get there. "There are three hangars with craft suitable for reentry; would you like me to guide you to the nearest one?" "Yes please!" replied the knight's mare. The computer then turned into a small rolling robot, and it looked at them and said "Follow me please." They then began following it out towards the nearest hangar.

As they walked closer and closer, Rarity's horn started glowing, and then dragged her down a side corridor. They asked the robot to stay there and said they would be back soon. As they followed her horn, they marked the way they had come from to make sure they could get back. She then stopped after going through a doorway that had a green glowing interior inside of it. As they looked inside, they saw a giant mechanical being, its legs torn from under it, and a hole in its head. They also saw a colossal emerald in front of them, Rarity's horn still glowing as she gazed upon it. She was entranced by the sight of this enormous gem, nut she managed to say "If it's a rock this time too, I swear somepony will pay." "Francis was going to ask what she meant, but Applejack stopped him and shook her head, her eyes slightly widened. Francis then asked "So, what did you just up and take off for? What's so important about this giant… thing?" Rarity struggled to pull herself from the emerald, but to no avail. "My magic brought me here, and I can't seem to get away from this emerald. It's almost as if it doesn't want me to leave without it." "You mean to tell me I'm gonna have to haul this thing with us to this boat we're using to get out of here?" Applejack nodded, and Francis sighed. "Alright, but don't say I don't do anything nice for anyone." He then grabbed the emerald, using a couple of rope looking things to attach it to his back.

"Warning, power source removed, all hands, retrieve power source immediately!" cried a mechanical voice from everywhere at once. Applejack then looked at everyone and said "I don't know about y'all, but I say we make like a tree and get the buck outta here." Rarity then replied "While I do not agree with the grammar, I agree with the sentiment. Let's get to one of those ships!" She then attempted to run, but the stone still held her in place. Francis got an almost malicious grin as he began running through the markers they had left, Rarity hauling tail behind him, though not by choice. The others followed behind them, eagerly hoping to find some way out.

When they got back to the robot, it turned on them and tried to stop them, but a swift stab and slash from Lady Percival quickly stopped that from happening. "What now? Everything on this, whatever you call it is coming after us, and our own guide turned on us. Where do we go?" asked Francis. All were silent until the two tailed fox suddenly said "I know a way down! We can get to one of these escape pod deals. They should be enough to help us get back the ground." "Where do we find these 'escape pods'?" asked Percival. "There should be some this way, come on!" With that they followed the fox down several hallways and corridors. They were almost at the escape pods when they were stopped by several robots. Three ladybug like robots were on the ground, ready to charge at them, while two mechanical wasps hovered above them pointing their stingers and charging them up for a blast.

All ducked to get away from these attacks, then Miles suddenly exclaimed "Keep these things busy, I'll try to open the escape pods and get them ready!" They all agreed and went to do their own thing. Percival tried to stab one of these motobugs as they passed, not successfully at first, but succeeding after a few swings. It exploded spectacularly. Santa Fuega attempted to stomp one of them, but only bounced off of its armored front. Applejack kicked one and sent it flying toward a buzz bomber, though it managed to get out of its way. Francis found he couldn't attack in the conventional sense because he couldn't shift his weight properly without falling because of the emerald. But he devised a way to get one of the flyers. "Rarity, get as close to the emerald as possible and hold out your hooves when I give the word." She agreed and quickly got behind him as he waited to give the signal. "Now!" he suddenly shouted, and turned around quickly. Rarity's magically attached horn sent her flying in its direction, her legs catching and destroying it.

She yelled at him after she got up, saying "HOW DARE YOU USE ME AS A HARPOON! I'm a very delicate pony and should be treated with RESPECT!" He then turned back, pulling her closer. "Listen, we just evened the odds for our friends here, and if that's going to get me in trouble, so be it." Then a crash sounded, and they looked behind themselves. The others had cleared the other robots, but from the sounds coming down the hall, many more were heading their way. They prepared to fight again…

"I've got them!" cried the fox and none too soon. "Three to each pod, and hurry!" Francis and Rarity climbed into Miles' pod, and the others into the other pod. Miles pulled the lever, and they all whooshed toward the earth, not having a clue where they were going.


	5. Chapter 5: Q&A with a bit of B

Fluttershy had been confused from the start. She didn't know where she was, why she had changed to be more simian, what had happened, or who this strange looking hedgehog fellow was beside her. He was black with red stripes on his head. He also had simian hands and feet, by the look of the gloves and shoes on his limbs. It was also relatively her size. She had seen many creatures in her years on the ground, but this one took the cake. He had been bruised and bloodied, small drops of the stuff coming off of gashes on his arms. He also had scorch marks all over.

She was able to bandage the wounds with nearby leaves, but she had no remedy for the burns handy, except for the fact that she was near a lake with lots of cold water. This lake was strange as well, because there was a stone temple sort of thing in its middle, and a bridge leading to it. Not only that, there was also fog around the entire place, shrouding it from view of the outside world. How as she supposed to find where she should go if she couldn't see? More importantly, would this hedgehog fellow be alright if she left? And where were the rest of her friends? Where they here as well? So many questions, so few answers. What could she do? It wasn't as if the answers would all fall into her lap.

"The answers to all your questions are here, pegasus Fluttershy." said a feminine voice from behind her. She then fainted straight to the ground. She pointed her head to where the voice had come, and saw a slightly smiling pink hedgehog in a gown, resplendent with all manner of symbols, flowing like water and shimmering like waves in the sunset.

"W- wh-who are you?" she asked hesitantly. "My name is Nimue, Lady of the lake, and you are in search of answers. I will give you an answer to every one of them if you follow me." The pegasus got up, ready to follow, but then she remembered the black and red hedgehog behind her and asked "What about him? Doesn't he need medical attention?" Nimue turned around and said "Don't worry about him dear, he's dealt with greater pain than this." Her expression turned solemn while she said this, and then she walked to the temple over the bridge, Fluttershy following behind her.

"What is your first question dear?" she asked as she sat down on a seat inside the temple. "Well, where exactly am I?" "You are in the home the Lady of the lake, where I and my predecessors have always stayed since time immemorial, though more specifically, you are on the misty lake."

Fluttershy had to think for a second before saying "I've never heard of this place before." The lady's face then turned even more serious. "That is because this place was never supposed to be here in the first place." "Wh-what do you mean?" she inquired. "I mean, this place is from another universe, a place that should never have met along with yours. Nevertheless we are here and you and your friends have been changed as well. This all happened faster than I had originally intended."

"Wait, you know where my friends are?" "Yes, I know exactly where they are, and you needn't worry. Though they are currently separated by many miles, all are headed where the road meets, and soon you will be headed there yourself, but you and the other hedghog need to get something first." Fluttershy looked back towards the hedgehog in front of the temple, lying peacefully on the grass.

"So, is he from the same universe as you?" Nimue then took a look at her and replied "No, he is not. This calamity you fight is in part his fault, for it was the actions of him, your friends and the metallic hero who caused the five universes to merge. Their chaos energy sent the multiverse throwing these universes at yours, and your harmonizing elements brought all together." She had to think on this a minute, it was a lot to digest. Not only were there other universes out there, but she and her friends had inadvertently merged several of them, not knowing what they had changed.

"I am not blaming you for this." said Nimue, interrupting her thoughts. "None of you knew that would happen, and in your position I probably would have done the same as you. However, there are consequences to what has happened, some that even the master planner has failed to take into account. They must be dealt with if peace is to be restored to your world." This made some sense to Fluttershy, who then felt the compulsion to ask "Who is behind all this, and how do you know so much about all of this?" She got up and faced the lake. "I will answer this in my order. There are those of us in the multiverse that can see from their universe what happens in the others. I am one of such people, as have been my predecessors before me, and you are friends with one such mare. Before you ask which one, it's the pink one." That certainly made a lot of sense to Fluttershy, she always thought there was more to Pinkie than anypony else realized. "As for who is behind this nefarious plot, I have no more of an idea than you do. Whoever it is, they're good at hiding who they are from me and my gaze. I will continue to investigate this in my own time. Is there anything else you wish to know dear?"

"What about the hedgehog? You said he had dealt with worse pain then what he has currently, so who exactly is he, and what kind of pain has he experienced?" Nimue raised an eyebrow before answering. "His name is Shadow, he comes from a universe where great evil has taken over much of the land, and he has fought ever since his awakening. His pain is a private matter, and if you wish to know, you will have to ask him yourself. One more thing though. This multiversal mashup has also mixed up the minds of beings that are similar to each other, whether they are essentially the same person or a different version of him. In other words, he has three memories stashed inside his, One of which he will always remember more than the others. So if these beings start acting funny, you know that they are probably having a memory that they never had before."

After thinking on this for a moment, she asked "What exactly did you want us to do?" "Ah, now that is a question better answered when he has awoken, and he seems to be waking up right now." Fluttershy then took of towards his prone form, leaning over him as his breathing seemed to increase.

Shadow felt himself on warm grass, but he couldn't see anything outwards. Was he dead? Was this what it felt like? No, if he could feel something, maybe his eyes were just closed. He opened them slowly, seeing a golden blur over his head. No, it couldn't be! She was dead, he couldn't be seeing her unless… unless he was already dead. "Maria?" he asked, his voice weak and low. The blurriness faded, and he could see pink hair on a golden frame. "No, my name is…" She answered, murmuring the last part so he couldn't hear it. The blurriness subsided, and he saw an equine like mobian with fairly large light blue eyes, though they had turned slightly away from him. "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" he asked, wondering who she was.

"Her name is Fluttershy, and we have much to discuss with you Shadow." answered Nimue, who was right behind them. He got off of the ground. "Amy, is that you? Or are you someone else too?" asked Shadow, somewhat intrigued and confused. "No, my name is Nimue and I'm the Lady of the lake, though I do know of this Amy that you speak. I think she may be a part of me now, though there is no way to tell for sure. I'm sure you've got a lot of questions, so if you'd follow me, I'll answer them to the best of my ability." He thought for a second before saying "Alright, but one question before that. Did you patch me up like this?" he said, accentuating his cuts and bruises, which had gotten smaller. "No dear, Fluttershy was the one who kept the blood from flowing while your regenerative abilities healed you up. Follow me please." As she turned around, Shadow looked at Fluttershy and said "Thank you for what you did." Her cheeks blushed bright red as she replied "Oh, um, it was nothing, really. I take care of sick creatures for a living, it's what I do. Um, let's go, you're probably as confused as I was when I woke up." He nodded, and then followed after Nimue.

After Nimue had explained just what she had explained before, Shadow took a while to actually say anything, before he asked "So Dr. Robotonik is here as well?" Nimue nodded with a sad look upon her face. "Then I should go." He said matter-of-factly. He got up ready to jet off, but then Nimue said "You needn't worry about him yet, all of his bases are currently devoid of power, and it will be a while before he will be a threat to anyone."

"Then now would be my best chance to take him out of the game entirely. You have seen through dimensions, you know what he is capable of. If I can stop him here before he even has a chance to recuperate, then everything will be alright." He looked like he was ready to put a spear through this Robotonik's gullet. "I know what this means to you, but there are far more pressing matters concerning us at this time. And besides that, a few of his robots survived this gigantic power blackout. If you go off to face Robotonik by yourself, you will have to contend with an army by yourself, and I don't think you will survive it this time. You need allies, and you will get them if you do what I want." He hated to admit it, but she was right. Even if he could sneak in, the doctor would have sounded the alarm before he could do anything to stop him. So he said "Alright then, what exactly is your plan then?"

"My plan begins with you retrieving your sword back in Camelot. I have a map of this new world which I finished before talking to Fluttershy, it will lead you to Camelot. After that, you must meet up with the others at Canterlot. I will give more details then." "Is that it then? Retrieve a hocus pocus sword from a castle then hightail it to another one?" Nimue nodded. "Very well then. What are we waiting for Ms. Shy? We have a sword to find." He then began walking out.

"One more thing before you go Fluttershy." said Nimue. She then came closer to her, saying "Take good care of Shadow. He is really one of the best beings in world if you can get past his shut you out defense; you just have to give him a chance. Also, let him tell you why he shuts others out in his own time. Forcing him will do you no good." She then looked at the pegasus and said "Fare thee well, Element of Kindness Fluttershy, may you be strong in the days to come." With that, the two left for Camelot, knowing only that something big was happening in front of them.

Shadow ran throughout the forest that was in front of him, slow enough that Fluttershy could follow through the air. If he was honest, he didn't really want her to come along with him. She wasn't a bad girl, and she looked like she might be capable in the field. No, he was the ultimate life form; he only needed help occasionally, he did what he did so others wouldn't have to. But he couldn't just get rid of her, it wasn't right. What if Robotonik's forces were to come out of the forest and attack? She certainly couldn't handle them by herself. He didn't want to see her or anyone else hurt. But he couldn't stop that any more than he could stop the rain from falling to the ground. What was an ultimate life form to do?

Suddenly, a growl perforated the air. Shadow stopped, intent on keeping Fluttershy out of harms way. That was when it appeared. It was lion, with wings like a great big bat and a scorpion's tail, looking angrily at him assumedly because he was in its territory. It started a slight roar, a mere warning to get away from here. Shadow didn't budge. It then bared its long sharp teeth. He prepared to put this beast down…

"Wait, don't do that." Said Fluttershy to the hedgehog. "What do you mean? It's a threat to us, and I don't take too kindly to threats." He retorted. "Listen, I have a way with animals, I always have. I can try to reason with it, get it to let us go on our way without a fight." "And if that doesn't work?" "If it doesn't work, we run as fast as we can." She then stepped up to the snarling beast.

"Hello Mr. Manticore, I'm sorry if we've intruded on your home, but we really need to get to the other end of the forest. If you let us go, I promise to never ever disturb your territory ever again." The beast seemed quite snappish, though he couldn't see why she was trying to reason with it instead of getting it out of their way. "You poor thing, all these goings on must have scared you half to death. Don't worry, we're not here to make things any worse, we're just passing through. Will you let us go?" The beast seemed to calm down to a degree. It then turned around and headed back towards its den.

"Impressive." Remarked Shadow, interested by what she had just done. He hadn't seen anyone deal with animals like that since… no, he had to stop himself there. No time to mope about the past, just keep moving. "Thank you, but it was…" started Fluttershy, before Shadow cut her off. "We need to get going if we intend to make any kind of headway towards Camelot." He then took off at the same speed as before.

It was a long time before they set their eyes on the castle. It was gray, a stark contrast to the fields and forests beside it, towering above them on the hill it sat upon. Glorious towers and protective walls rose above the pairs head's, and they had to say they were impressed. They looked at the gate, wondering how to get inside. "Hello?" cried Fluttershy, "Is anypony there?" A guard with green skin and black eyes appeared at the entrance and looked down, and after seeing Shadow exclaimed "Sir Lancelot, you have returned! Allow me to get the door for you." After a couple of minutes, the gates opened, and they found themselves in the castle town.

Most of the villagers bowed at the feet of Shadow as he walked by, but he didn't seem to notice as he listened to the head villager, a being by the name of Henry Toddsworth. He was a slightly stout fellow who wore a bears' skin coat and walked with a fancy stick as if he were a rich northerner, and spoke in a slightly cockney accent. "Everything has been a bloody panic since you left sir. I've tried to keep them from doing anything rash in your absence, but that hasn't stopped them from worrying. If it's not too bold of me Sir Lancelot, what exactly happened?" Shadow thought a second before answering, "I'm not entirely sure, but it had something to do with magic. But you will have to be in charge for a while longer. Lady Nimue has asked me to join in a quest of great significance, and I find I am compelled to go. I will be leaving after I retrieve my sword, but you'll have to tell the townsfolk why I've left."

His second shook his head. "Right, first there's a flash and you're gone. Then our horses get on their hind legs and start talking to us, and then those refugees from the southern villages show up saying they've been attacked by swarms of flying black horse demons from the forest, and now you're telling me that I have to run this circus for longer after you get back? I'm telling you, the world's gone to hell in a hand-basket, and I'm starting to feel like a basket case."

Shadow chuckled slightly "You certainly have a way with words Mr. Toddsworth." Henry grinned and replied "I've been told that's why you took me on as your advisor sir. Any other things I should know about before you and your, ah, companion head for the castle?" he stated, looking back at Fluttershy. "That will be all. Oh, and Toddsworth? Don't be spreading any rumors about me and her. This is a strictly business related relationship, understand?" Henry looked somewhat flabbergasted at his lord's remarks, spitting out "Why sir, you know I wouldn't waggle my tongue with such malicious rot, unless it were true." Shadow gave him a glare. "Not that that's bad or anything, but it's not exactly normal…" He then got a 'get out of here now' look from his lord. "Right well, I'll just be off thinking of ways to break this to the other villagers, goodbye." And he took off at a slightly hurried pace.

Fluttershy was flabbergasted. He was lying through the skin of his teeth, and he had gotten away with it. She knew that in this case it was necessary in order to move on, but she still had problems with it, and expressed her concern with Shadow. He replied "I'm not lying, this Lancelot and I are one and the same, and as I got here and talked with people, more and more of my memories of being him have returned. I am almost surprised at how fast I have remembered, but that's for another day. Come along Fluttershy, we have to get the sword and get moving." Fluttershy looked at some of the townsfolk running about, along with some horses. They seemed to be having spots of bother. "You go on ahead Shadow, I'll meet you around here somewhere when you've finished." She then went towards the signs of trouble.

Shadow entered a large throne room, white floors and walls adorned with stained glass depicting the legend of King Arthur, all the way up to Sonic the golden knight defeating the dark queen. He took a look around, looking for anything that could tell him where his sword Arondight could be. Then he found that on the throne were pieces of black armor that looked to be about his size, and then he saw the sheath and hilt of his sword. It was a curved sword with a gold handle. He reached to grasp it…

He then smelled something odd. Ever since his encounter with forces he didn't quite understand, he found that his senses of hearing and smelling became more acute. It was somewhat like a perfume, but it had something off about it, an almost rotten smell. Then he heard the sound of footsteps to his left. He turned straight towards it and said "If you have any regard for your life, you will leave now. If not, stay in here with me."

"My you are a threatening one aren't you? I wish you wouldn't have come back yet. If only I had more time. But that's no matter to me, what matters is that I will soon have your castle as my own, even if I have to take it from you inch by inch." It was a woman's voice, and it echoed about the room as she spoke, confusing Shadow as to her location. "If you wish to take this castle, it will require more than yourself. Do you have an army?" She laughed at his suggestion, and replied "Only the most loyal and deadly army in the entire world. And the best part is you and your allies will never know what's coming. We will destroy you, and you will know that I, Queen Chrysalis of the Changeling hordes, will be a truly rightful ruler and conqueror!" He felt as though he were being circled the entire time she talked. Then her smell became unbearably pungent, and she said in a whisper next to his ear "And your bones will lay the foundation for my empire."

He turned and tried to hit the creature in her face, but a black mist spouted from where she had stood. The mist then moved into the light, where it quickly vanished and revealed a black horse with an unkempt blue mane, a crooked horn, and an obsidian crown on her head, two fly like wings that had holes in them, and holes in her arms and legs. She stared at him with two venomous turquoise eyes and smiled with fanged teeth. "Is that the best you have little traveler? A mere smack to the muzzle will do you no good." she retorted at the hedgehog. She then had a turquoise aura of energy around her, and she sent it flying at him through her hands. He barely dodged it in time, it missing his shoulder by centimeters.

He then charged straight at her, barely contained frustration powering his every step. He then jumped up and used an energy boost to send him flying straight for her. She raised an energy shield, deflecting his attack and sending him to the ground. She then attempted to gore him on her horn, which he narrowly avoided by the measurement of mere hairs. He used that opportunity to kick her in her face, which sent her back to a pillar on the wall. He tried to follow up with a punch, but she dodged that as well. He then felt some power coursing through his veins, and used it to make a ball of energy in his hands. Chrysalis pulled up her shield again, this time waiting to see what this warrior would do. Shadow then threw his hands out, releasing a spear of chaos energy from his hands. It impacted with her shield for the briefest of moments before breaking through and hitting her left arm. She screamed in pain as a small jet of green issued forth from her new wound.

After a second, she chuckled slightly and looked back up at him. "I was mistaken in my estimate of you before, little traveler. You have more to you than meets the eye. So much more, more pain, more suffering, more love, more power. I could probably siphon your emotions for a thousand years and I would still have a week left before I had to find someone else." Shadow was shocked, how could she know his feelings, all that was in his heart? "You're wondering how I know about your past? That is a mystery that you will have to wait for. For now, let me introduce you to my HORDE!" With that she let out a bellowing high pitched screech that threatened to deafen Shadow, and afterwards came a silence. But then a buzzing sound could be heard. It got louder and louder until it shook the pillars of the castle, and then several small creatures that bore semblance to her popped up from the basement, snarling and biting at the beleaguered hedgehog. He quickly grabbed his sword and ran out the door, hoping he wasn't too late.

The town was completely surrounded by these beings, there were villagers crying for help, horses running in fear, and those creatures delighted in every second of their almost assured victory. Shadow couldn't find Fluttershy anywhere. He hoped she was alright. She didn't seem the type to fight people. Then he heard Toddsworth's voice say "Over 'ere sir!" and he ran towards it.

Toddsworth was fighting off several of the creatures when Shadow ran towards him. He took his stick and hit on one of them in the stomach, following with a blow to another's skull. He then swung his stick around, knocking out the rest, except for one. That one transformed into him, attempting to faze him out. Instead, he chuckled, saying "Sorry luv, you may have my looks…" He then dropped his stick, punched it in the face, boxed its ears and tossed it to the ground. "…but you don't have my style."

"Toddsworth, what happened out here?" asked Shadow, having stopped next to him. "Well sir, if it really is you, then I'll tell you, but don't try playing me if you're not." He then took a swing at Shadow, who simply caught the fist and twisted it so that it would hurt, but not crack. Then Toddsworth was forced to the ground. "Alright, alright, you're you. Now let me up." Shadow let go, letting his advisor get up and twist his wrist around.

"Well sir, everything was normal until that god awful screech came from the castle. After that the refuges all changed into those black buggers and caused a castle wide panic. And worse, some of them popped up from the ground as if they had been waiting this whole time." "I gathered that much from their queen Henry. Any advisements on the situation?" He thought for a second. "We have to get the citizens out of here sir, they ain't no army, and if they tried to fight these things they'd be torn to shreds. I also say we should bugger out of here. There are way too many of these things to hold them off for long, so if we let them have the castle and head for the old dragon's cave to the south, we should be alright." Shadow thought for a second. "Very well, tell everyone you can to fall back to the gates, I'll distract them and you open the gates." He gave Shadow a salute. "Aye sir, will do." With that, they ran in opposite directions, hoping to stop what was happening.

Fluttershy was almost scared out of her wits. She was the kind of pony meant for helping others outside of combat, not in the middle of it. But she knew she had to get as many of the people away from the changelings as possible. She had manged to gather some villagers and horses after the attacks had started, and she gave them this instruction. "Stick together everypony, and watch each other's backs. Don't wander away from the group and don't fight these things unless it's absolutely necessary." They ran toward wherever they found civilians and children, whether they were under attack or not. Then she heard a voice cry "Retreat! Everyone fall back to the main gates. All men, women, and children make for the gates. Retreat!" Fluttershy then cried to her group. 'Everypony, head for the city gates, and quickly!" There was safety in numbers in that case. Whenever a group of those things appeared, they were quickly swatted down or away as they and several other groups made for the gates.

Toddsworth saw the hundreds of citizens and guards headed for the gates, and he got up to the main lever used to open the door. In the distance, he saw Sir Lancelot taking out enemies in the back of the retreating people. 'Always like Lancelot, having to be the bloody hero every goddamn time.' He thought to himself, a small smile stretched across his face as he remembered some of the stuff that they had done before he had become a squire. Then he remembered the job he had to do, and with little effort, got the door opened. All of them funneled through the doors, guards behind to make sure nothing got at the villagers. Lancelot's blur got closer and closer, the changelings also becoming more frequent.

Henry jumped down from the top of the gate as soon as the villagers had gotten through, telling the guards to go through in a timely fashion, leaving only him and Shadow in the city. He had finally gotten to the gates and Toddsworth grabbed his shoulder. "C'mon sir, the doors are open and everyone else is out, let's get out of here." Shadow nodded, and they ran for the forest, never looking back at the now occupied city.

They all regrouped in the forest, waiting for their leader to give them directions, but they weren't forthcoming. "I think one of our loyal subjects is one of those bugs what took Camelot." Fluttershy asked "Are you sure about that? Maybe they are all back in Camelot and didn't send one of them after us." "Trust me dearie, my gut's telling me they wouldn't let us go without keeping tabs on us. My gut is only rarely wrong. Therefore, we at least got a decent chance of having one of those things with us." Shadow had thought for a moment before saying "I can find out for sure. If you can keep all of them still I'll be able to find them if they are here." They agreed that this was a prudent plan, and set off to do it.

Shadow sniffed the air, and he found traces of **her** stench in the camp. Her minions were somewhere in the camp, but where? He sniffed around, the stink getting stronger and stronger, until he stopped at a family. He then took out his sword and said "Give it up changeling filth; I know that it is you. Take of your disguises before I take them off of you." The family looked surprised, but then the father stood up, a turquoise flame surrounding him as he did. The others followed suit, revealing four regular changelings, and an ugly looking one. This one had six arms, two horns, no wings, and stood above the others. This one spoke. "There certainly is more to you than you let on young traveler. The queen is going to enjoy tearing you and your friends to shreds. Let us leave brethren; this action no longer has any profit." He jumped into the trees and swung away while the other ones flew.

With that done, Shadow and Fluttershy left for Canterlot, saying their goodbyes. Fluttershy had a little fan club with the people she had helped from Camelot. She told them that it was just what anypony would do, but they didn't have any of that. Shadow's departure was particularly saddening for those who had hoped he would lead them, but they understood that much worse could happen if he didn't. Toddsworth gave them a particularly peculiar farewell, saying "Bye old friend. Oh, and if you die on this mission and leave me in charge of these peasants, I'll kill you." Shadow chuckled a bit and replied "Till we meet again old friend." With that they departed with the map Lady Nimue had given them and headed for their next destination.

They walked for the rest of the day, stopping just before sunset to set up a small camp for the night. It was then that Shadow remarked "What you did back in the village was something that I never thought you could do. You have more courage than your name and demeanor implies." This caught Fluttershy off guard, and she somewhat stammered out an answer. "Oh, uh, th-thank you Mr. Shadow, th-that's kind of you to say." And quietly went back to getting a little fire wood, her cheeks red as a rose.

After a while longer, she asked him "So, uh, that Toddsworth fellow was a strange one. How much do you actually remember about him?" Shadow looked at her and replied "Not much admittedly, though if I am correct in my memory, we were childhood friends, and he was the one who would always find a way to get us in trouble. But he was kind to other people at least some of the time, from what I remember."

Then he clutched his stomach, and looking towards the sunset, saw that the sun was about to go down. "Oh dear, are you hurt? Do you need some kind of medicine?" asked Fluttershy, deeply concerned for his well being. Shadow held his hands in front of him and replied "No, I'm fine, that was probably something I ate. Listen, you'd better get some rest, I'm going to keep watch until tomorrow, alright?" "Um, okay but, are you sure you don't need any sleep?" He gave her a small smile, something that made her think she was misunderstanding something. "I'll be fine, honest. Get some rest." He then turned around, lit the fire, and walked into the trees. She then huddled by the fire, and, after a quick supper, went to sleep, knowing they would be at Canterlot in the morning.


	6. Chapter 6: A Canterlot Meeting

Twilight had just gotten out of bed from her adventure over Equestria, and the first thing she did was check to see if she had dreamed the whole thing. No such luck there. The next thing she did was get up and see whether or not Metal Sonic had awoken from his shutdown. When she asked the guard where he was, he said that her brother had put him in the barracks until further notice. She said thank you and continued on to the barracks.

As she walked, she saw ponies around and about, most of them wondering what had happened to their beloved princesses. With what had happened to her, Pinkie, and Spike yesterday, Twilight thought that they might have been teleported somewhere else, just like they were. Where though was a mystery they'd have to solve later. Now she was going to see Metal Sonic, to thank him for what he had done.

Pinkie jumped from almost nowhere, scaring poor Twilight near to death. "Oh goodie, you're up! I was starting to get worried that you might be sleeping in today, which might not be bad thing seeing as you're usually an early riser, but if you sleep in too much you might start getting pudgy." After a second she regained her composure and said "Don't worry about me Pinkie I'm perfectly fine. I was about to check up on Sonic, do you want to come with me?" "Ooh, thanks Twilight, but I've got to get his welcome to Equestria party ready, after all, he did just get here. Well, see ya." With that she skipped in the other direction, probably preparing something big for the robot.

She remembered exactly what happened when she and the others had landed in Canterlot. It was in the evening, and her brother Shining Armor had run up towards all of them and gave Twilight a hug. He then saw Sonic on the carpet, and inquired what she was doing with that thing. She replied that that thing had saved her and her friends lives, and that he wasn't really giving him a chance. They had an argument where all manner of information was exchanged, including the appearance of Mephiles and disappearance of the princesses. Her Brother came to the conclusion that it wasn't actually a bad robot after all, and said he would keep it safe until such time as it awoke. They then got something to eat and a place to sleep.

She finally got to the barracks and found several guards at the entrance. Her brother certainly didn't trust easily after his near disastrous wedding, that was for certain. She walked into the chamber, and there he was, as still as he was before. Seeing something like this made her scholarly instincts kick in. Who had built such a marvelous machine? Who could make something so advanced? How did he infuse it with magical power? How did he manage to make it artificially intelligent? Why would he need to create a defense robot? These questions and others raised in her head, until one of the day guards came and said "Excuse me miss Sparkle, but it seems one of your friends is at the front gate." "Really?!" she cried excitedly. "Which one?" "I believe it's the one you call Rainbow Dash." She then rushed towards the gates, hoping to talk to her friend.

They had arrived exactly when the conductor had said they would, and immediately they ran straight for the main gates. Currently though, they were waiting for someone to open the gates and let them inside. Dash was pacing in front of the gate, well technically flying back and forth, and she seemed anxious to get inside. "Just who do you think will be in there?" asked Sinbad. "I'm hoping at least one of my friends is in there waiting for the rest of us."

No sooner had she said this then the gates opened, revealing a purple unicorn, a pink pony, and a purple and green dragon. Rainbow immediately tackled Twilight, saying "Twilight! Man, I never thought I'd be so happy to see you, you old egg-head." She then got up and said. "Hey Pinkie, You're here too? And you too Spike? How'd you even get here? It's great seeing you guys again, let me tell you." After this display of affection from Dash, Sinbad cleared his throat. "Ahem. Aren't you forgetting someone here?" Dash got somewhat red cheeks. "Heh heh, whoops. Guys, this is Sinbad, I found him in the Everfree forest after I woke up."

Sinbad walked up to the purple unicorn, giving a slight bow as he said "Sinbad the adventurer, at your service ma'am." He then attempted to grab her hand and kiss it, but she didn't understand the gesture and pulled it away from him. He then apologized. "Sorry if I'm being a bit forward ma'am, that was merely something we usually do with important people. I suppose you are Miss Twilight Sparkle. Miss Dash has said much good about you. And you two must be Pinkie Pie and Spike. Nice to meet you." Pinkie let out a rather large gasp and whizzed the other way. "Um, is she alright?" Twilight shook her head and answered "She's fine, though you may want to prepare for a surprise party." "Uh, okay then. Say, can we get some breakfast or something? I'm famished." They all agreed and set off for the dining hall.

On the way towards the hall, Twilight and Rainbow described their respective misadventures to each other, which afterwards Rainbow said "Oh man. I wish I were there with you guys. Your adventure sounded about 20% cooler than mine. Oh well, I guess there's always next time. Oh, so about this Metal Sonic guy, can we see him?" Twilight answered her anxious friend. "We'll see him as soon as he's up and about Rainbow. And no, I don't understand quite what's going on either." Sinbad interjected. "Those ruins you described sound a lot like the flying city of Azamar. I was imprisoned there once, until a blue hedgehog named Sonic busted me out. He defeated an old Djinn by the name of Erazor, and after that he left and never returned."

When they had gotten to the dining hall Pinkie immediately shooed them off, claiming to be working on business. They decided after that to go to the guard's mess hall, being as famished as they were. No sooner had they gotten to the hall had they seen a guard outside the hall, sitting on the ground chewing on a dandelion sandwich. He had an insignia on his chest plate that looked like a crescent moon and star. He heard them coming and sat straight up. He was a pegasus with a chestnut mane and a grayish brown coat, with dark green eyes.

"Well well well, what have we here? A couple of civilians? What are you doing here?" he asked. Twilight answered "Well, our friend has currently taken over the dining hall, so we were hoping to get some food over here." "Oh, well if that's the case, *yawn* go right ahead. I must warn you though; they'll throw you out if you're too noisy." He looked somewhat tired. Twilight asked "Oh? And why is that?"

"Well, if you hadn't noticed, I'm part of the night guard, *yawn* so being up this early is not something we do. Second, we pegasi have been searching for the princesses all night, so they're kinda cranky. I mean, I only made a few comments here and there*yawn* and they threw me out for being too loud. So if you go in there, I hope you didn't want conversation with your friends. Or, you could go in there, grab some food and come back out with me. I won't mind the company." They decided to take the later option, seeing as they wanted to talk as well.

When they had gotten out, Rainbow asked "So, Mr. 'I've got some good advice', what's your real name?" He looked up from his somewhat restive pose and responded "Name's Twister Tail, pleased to meet you, miss?" She extended her hand. "Rainbow Dash's the name, speed's my game." He shook it. "Ahh, I've heard of you. You saved Captain Spitfire and the rest from falling to the ground and going 'SPLAT!' I heard she wanted to recruit you on that very day, but the others wanted her to wait before making a decision." Dash hadn't heard that before. Was she really that close to being one of them? "I used to want to be a Wonderbolt myself, but I decided to join the guard instead. Sorry, how rude of me, who are the rest of you?"

After they had introduced themselves, he asked Sinbad "A full time adventurer huh? What exactly does one of those do?" "Well, it's a great job. Challenging work, out of doors, you get to meet tons of new people, go tons of new places, and the payoff is always sweet whether or not there's treasure, if you catch my drift. Though I must admit, this is a new one, even for me. All these new and exciting creatures, technologies and magic I've never heard of, it gets me thinking."

"Thinking what?" asked Twilight. "Thinking… how exactly did all of this happen? I mean, I've seen stuff that'd turn even the darkest skinned man white with terror, but this is confusing. I mean, according to you, you all were horses before me and that metal thing showed up, so I have to wonder, does all this strangeness have to do with me and that thing showing up here?"

They all started pondering this when a loud boom was heard outside. Turning to the nearest window, they looked out and saw two objects falling towards the ground, and as soon as they impacted, it sent a shockwave through the castle, though it landed miles away. After the initial shock wore off, Twister got up saying "Sorry folks, duty calls!" And took off, Rainbow Dash flying after him.

Rarity climbed out of the pod first, declaring "Ooh, my aching head. If I have to do that again, I might just lose it." Francis followed behind her, stumbling out and responding "Sister, that makes two of us." Miles crawled out next, saying "For the love of the good lord on high, would you two stop arguing?" Francis looked back, replying "We aren't arguing sir. We're just having a friendly disagreement is all." Miles shook his head.

Lady Percival stepped out of the other pod. Looking on something more familiar then giant corridors made of metal up in the heavens felt good to her. Feet on solid ground, albeit in the middle of a crater, the smell of wood, burnt though it may be, all made her feel better about all of this. Then she heard the other two pop out of the pod, and decided they should plan their next move.

"Is everyone alright?" she asked immediately. Rarity replied first. "A slight headache, but other than that I'm perfectly fine." The others had similar responses, and so the next thing asked was "What do we do now?" Applejack seemed to have an answer to that. "I think we should find out just where the hay we are first. Can anypony get up to one of those tree tops?" "I'll take a gander." replied Miles.

After he had climbed the tree he yelled down to the group. "There's a castle a few miles from here." Percival then asked "Is it Camelot?" "No, the structure and color are too wrong for it to be Camelot. Besides, the whole thing looks to be on a mountain of sorts." "I'm sorry; did you just say it's on a mountain? Applejack, do you think it could be Canterlot?" "Why the hay not? I'll take a gander for myself." She climbed the tree herself, exclaiming as soon as she saw it. "It is Canterlot y'all!"

Rarity jumped up and down in excitement. "Hoorah! Civilization at last! Ooh, I can't wait to get there. Come along new friends, civilization is this way!" She then took off towards Canterlot, but was then stopped by two pegasi, one a royal guard, the other… "Rainbow Dash!"

**Status**… power levels at 100%. Power reboot initiated… all systems full power. **Reinitializing sensory preceptors**. Metal Sonic saw a room that looked like it was meant for soldiers, and saw a guard standing over him. One question ran through his head. What had happened while he had been out? The last thing he remembered was that he was falling towards the earth. He then turned to the guard, who after hearing a noise, turned around and looked at him with something akin to fear. He then asked "Might I inquire as to what happened to me?"

This was a real pickle he was in. Not only had the princesses been kidnapped while he was sleeping on the job, but his entire world had turned into a madhouse as well. Ponies transforming into something a little more monkeyish, new beings popping up left and right, not to mention the morale of his men being diminished. The only thing that kept them going was the fact that the sun and moon still rose in the sky, which meant that the sisters still had power. "Excuse me Captain Armor, but I have something to tell you." He turned to the smaller unicorn next to him. "What is it private?" "It's that Metal Sonic sir, he's woken up."

Shining Armor entered the barracks hoping to talk to Metal Sonic. He found it waiting, just standing by the bed they had placed it in. "Ah, captain." It said. "I was hoping we would be able to speak again. I do wish to apologize for my actions…" "Wait," he answered "I have something to say to you." He took a second to make sure what he was saying was what he wanted to say. "Thank you, for keeping my sister safe up there. If something had happened to her, I don't know what I would have done." "It was nothing Captain. However, regarding what happened up there, how am I not split into one million pieces by impacting with the earth?"

"Well that one's an easy one. According to my sister you were saved by that dragon after you cleared a shade from its head. Then they flew down here and brought you here." Metal Sonic's optics seemed to be deep in thought after he said this, finally replying "Indeed. So, are you ready to revise your initial judgment of me?" "Well, let's just say I don't doubt your claim that you didn't kidnap the princesses, but I still don't trust you." "A wise policy indeed captain, am I free to go?" "Yes, but only under surveillance. I don't want you stealing or destroying anything important. Private, you will escort Metal Sonic through the castle streets, and don't let him out of your sight. Understood?" The guard nodded, following as Sonic took a tour of the castle.

When Fluttershy had awoken, she found Shadow up practicing swinging his sword. He seemed to be masterful at it; each swing took more confidently than the last. Then he realized he had an audience and told her she should be getting something to eat before they went off to Canterlot. He only asked her one question. "Did you know what those things we fought were?" She hesitated for only a moment before answering "I think so. Those things attacked Canterlot on the day of Captain Shining Armor's wedding to Princess Cadance. Their queen impersonated her and nearly destroyed Canterlot, except for the Princess and Captain expelling them from Canterlot. I think Twilight called them changelings, because of their innate ability to transform into anypony."

Shadow thanked her for the knowledge she had shared and after a hasty breakfast, they left for Canterlot hoping to find out what to do next. When they had gotten ten miles outside of the castle, they heard a large boom and felt a great shock. They saw smoke coming from where that thing was, and decided it was best if they examined it. They took off towards there, hoping to find something.

Rainbow Dash had been talking with her friends for about twenty minutes and even got into the town, and she had to say she was absolutely jealous of her friends luck. They had not only gone to heights she could never hope to reach, but they also had an adventure up there. Sometimes life was just unfair. Though their new friends seemed quite odd. Not only were there a cat woman by the name of Lady Percival and a fox blacksmith by the name of Miles Prower, but there were also two ponies who claimed to be merely animals before all of this weirdness started. Just what was she supposed to believe about that? Was the entire world going mad?

Twister Tail was fascinated by Francis and Santa Fuega, and asked them lot's of questions. "So you two were animals before all of this?" "That's right." answered Fuega. "What was it like, not having to worry about taking care of yourselves?" Francis answered "I'm afraid that answer would take too long to explain. On the other hand, you say you've always been like this? I mean being able to talk like my master and the other humans?" "Why yes we have." answered Twister.

"Doesn't anypony besides me think this is weird? I mean all these beings who we thought were animals are coming out to be as smart and crafty as we are. It just feels all kinds of weird." Rainbow Dash said. "Of course." answered Twister. "We all think that this is weird, but we're not going to question it until we have something to go on, am I right?" The others voiced their consent with what he had said. "Besides, I'm sure the truth behind all this madness is actually even crazier than you realize. But even if we don't get answers, I hope we can find some way to cope with these people. Don't you agree Ms. Dash?" They then stopped their conversation because they had found themselves in front of the Castle gates.

Since there was no way of getting to their friend in time to help her, Sinbad made the suggestion of showing him around the castle, seeing as they knew the place. Twilight thought it was an excellent idea and began a tour of her old home. There were many places she showed him, various bedrooms, the kitchen, talking about old tapestries and murals and stained glass windows. Eventually they came to the library, where Twilight had spent many of her waking hours. Book by book, shelf by shelf, she knew where every one of them was, where they were supposed to go, and what subject was to be found inside. She could've gone on for hours, but she didn't really have the time, so instead she just told Sinbad about some of her favorite subjects to study on, especially regarding Starswirl the bearded, the greatest magical genius of his time.

"Wow, this Starswirl guy sounds amazing. Bet he'd be pretty handy in a fight if ever he was needed in one." remarked Sinbad, obviously impressed. "Indeed, from your descriptions he seems to have been a great man." said a robotic voice to their left. When Twilight looked, she saw Metal Sonic, accompanied by a royal guard. "Sonic! When did you get up?" "Only moments ago, your brother said he wanted me to be shown about the premises so I've been taking a tour with this guard."

Sinbad looked in awe at the robot, saying "Wow, I've never seen a mechanical being quite like you. Don't get me wrong, I once fought a bronze bull statue powered entirely by magic, but it was much clunkier and bigger. No, your maker must have been proud to make you, so sleek, elegant, and fast." Metal gave an icy reply. "My maker and I are sore subjects to each other. You would do well to stay off the topic Knuckles."

"Wait, what did you just call me?" Sinbad had a confused look on his face. "Knuckles. That is your name, correct?" "No, my name is Sinbad, adventurer and vagabond. You must be mistaking me for an idiot of the same face. And I don't think I like your tone very much." They stared at each other for a moment before Spike came in, saying "Guys, listen to me. I'm sure we're kinda getting off on the wrong hoof here, so how about we forget what was said and shake hands?" They looked at each other for a minute before Metal extended his hand. Sinbad grabbed his hand and shook, hoping to have good will between themselves.

With that out of the way, they walked towards the throne room continuing the tour. Twilight then said "You know, I never did get the chance to properly thank you for what you did Sonic." Metal merely said 'Just repaying my many old debts ma'am." Before she could ask what he meant by that, they realized that there were others in the hallway.

When they had gotten up to the hallway, the first thing Applejack did was run up and hug Twilight. Rarity did move towards the group as well, only at a more dignified pace. Miles merely stared at the mechanical being in front of him, his mind apparently elsewhere. Percival looked at him. He looked like a man who was witnessing something he couldn't stop. Just what was he seeing?

_All time had stopped. The forest was burning, the other freedom fighters had been slaughtered by the mechanical menace, and it just stood there, looking at him as if he were something special. It had deceived them all, even Shadow. It then spoke. "I know you had your suspicions of me from the start. Why did you let me stay unguarded? You were all fools, and now you're dead fools." Tails chuckled for a second before answering "If it's foolish to have hope for something, then yes, we're all fools. I had hope that you might have actually changed. I can see now I was wrong. Go ahead, I'm ready." _

It was then that Percival shook him out of his trance. "What? What just happened?" asked Miles. "You looked as if you were under a spell. What happened to you?" Miles shook his head and answered "It's nothing, just something of a dream I had. Let's go meet the others." He then walked over to the others, seeing that Rarity and Applejack had already started introducing them.

"Guys, these are the guys we met when we escaped that giant thing in space. First we have Francis, a mule." "Hello there." "Then we have Santa Fuega, this mare here." "Nice to meet you." "And then there's these two, Lady Percival and Miles Prower." "A pleasure to meet such honorable people." said Percival. Miles stood there for near a minute before saying "Um, hello."

Sinbad looked at the fox for a moment. It was odd, he looked just like this guy he knew named Ali Baba, but it obviously wasn't him. It was weird though. Then Lady Percival asked "Sir Gawain, is that you?" She was looking directly at him. "Sorry lady, you've got the wrong name. Sinbad's mine and I intend to keep it that way." She looked for a second, remarking only "It's uncanny, they look so much alike." Then the introductions continued on the other side.

"Well, we're mostly Applejack and Rarity's friends. My name is Twilight Sparkle; it's a pleasure to meet all of you. This is my assistant Spike." "Hey guys, nice to meet you." "You've already met Rainbow Dash and Sinbad." Dash smirked and Sinbad merely said "Sup." "And lastly, our new friend Metal Sonic." "Hello." He said. "And me, don't forget me!" cried a voice from above them as Pinkie Pie dropped from the ceiling, shocking everyone. "Oh yes," said Twilight shakily "this is our friend Pinkie Pie."

"Wow, it's so cool to see all you guys in the same room. Come to think of it, I know I've seen you all someplace else, but that can wait for later. Ooh, this is going to be the best party ever, I just know it! Well, see you later!" She then skipped down the corridor, leaving behind several confused people in her wake. "Is she always like… that?" asked a very confused Francis. "I'm afraid so my muley friend." answered Rarity. "Huh." was all he could muster from his mouth.

After that, a couple of them went and talked in the hallway, and Metal Sonic and Miles found themselves together. "I noticed that when you looked at me your face turned to one of terror. Why do you look at me with such terror?" asked Metal Sonic. Miles looked at him, unsure of what to say. "I don't know. It was like, I mean, it felt like… I don't know. It was like something I remembered, but it wasn't something like that because I never remembered it before today." Metal looked deep in thought, answering after a short while "It had something to do with me I suppose?" Miles nodded.

"Listen, I don't know what exactly I did, but I promise you that as long as I am in control of my body, I will not let myself do anything to you or your friends. Do we have an agreement?" His voice actually made him feel reassured, and he extended his hand in a sign of peace. Metal took it and shook, but then he went stiff, for he was having one of those memories too.

"_Go ahead, I'm ready." Said the fox, who had put himself into a pose with both his arms outstretched. Metal picked him up with his claws, ready to do it. He then said "Miles Prower, in the name of the glorious ruler, Emperor Robotonik, I hereby execute you for treason against his reign. Do you have any last words?" Tails merely replied "Go ahead. Last words are for those who haven't said enough." Then, he took the fox in his hand, squeezing his throat until…_

Metal Sonic then snapped out of his trance. Now that was unusual. Out of every memory he had collected since being constructed by Robotonik, he had never seen something like that. True, he had killed people before, almost always unable to defend themselves against him, but he had never killed an unarmed man or woman. That thought kept him from attempting to destroy himself, even now. But this… it was something entirely different altogether. It was like a memory, yet he had never been there or done that. What could this mean?

Miles looked as the robot stared, his optics seemingly being shocked. "Sir, are you alright?" he asked. He snapped out of it, whispering "I think I know just what it was you saw." That wasn't comforting. "And that was?" "You saw me killing you. I know for a fact that I never did this, but I saw it with the usual clarity of my memories." "And what does that mean for us?" asked Miles. "I don't know. More data is required before making any hypothesis. In the meantime, let us rejoin the others." The guard heard this, and she wondered for a moment whether or not to tell the captain, but decided on sticking with Sonic for the time being.

As metal took a look at the others, he noticed Francis had a collection of wires on his front. Curious, he went to talk to the mule. "You are Francis, correct?" he asked. "That's me, one mule of a jackass, at your service." "I wish to know, how did you come across those wires?" "Oh these things? Well, when we were on board that space station, Rarity's horn brought her straight towards this huge emerald. She couldn't move without it, so they tied it to my back and I carried it and dragged her to the escape pods. That was actually pretty fun." Sonic then said "A giant emerald you say? Was there a giant robot next to it?" "Yea, a broken down thing, why do you ask?" Metal then grabbed Francis and said "Listen to me; I need to know exactly what happened aboard that ship, understand?" Francis nodded and told him the story.

When he was finished, Metal began processing the data. 'The Death-Egg is here in orbit, so that means that it must have teleported with me. But did that mad doctor end up here as well? And it lost power as soon as they pulled out the emerald. What will happen to all the robots on the ship? And with all those others here, just how much did my chaos control change this new world?' He then walked off, towards the throne room.

When all had gathered in the throne room, they were greeted by a spectacular sight. It had light blue walls and pillars of a darker shade. A red carpet lead to the place where the princesses would have been seated, were they here. The whole place was open, a testament to the time and effort the sisters put into they're work, except for a few stained glass windows near the end of the entire corridor.

One in particular caught Sonic's attention. It was of a dark being with wings and a horn; the moon also bore her semblance. Under her were six creatures, two ponies, two pegasi, and two unicorns, each bearing a resemblance to Twilight and her friends. They each wore a piece of jewelry, which resembled what he had seen Twilight and Pinkie wearing when he had found them , and from each piece, a beam of something shot towards Twilight, where they condensed and formed a rainbow beam that shot at the dark Alicorn.

"Do you like that one?" asked Twilight. "It is an interesting piece of art. Commemorating one of your triumphs I suspect." He answered. "Our first to be correct. This was just after Spike and I got to Ponyville. I was there to watch over the summer sun celebration, but I had warned Princess Celestia that I thought that Nightmare Moon would be coming for her, but she shrugged it off. Lo and behold, that morning she showed up, hoping to take over from the princess. Our only hope to stop her was the Elements of Harmony, those jewels in the picture. I knew where they were, but I needed help to get there, though you wouldn't have heard me say it at the time. Over the journey, I realized just how powerful friendship really is, and when we finally got to where the Elements of Harmony lay, we found they were destroyed. But then, we realized we really were the Elements, and we used them to stop Nightmare Moon."

She then somewhat blushed. "Whoops, heh heh, I think I got a bit carried away with the story there." Metal put his hand up. "No need. It was a most interesting story. I have a couple of questions though. First, what happened to this Nightmare Moon?" "Well that's the interesting part of the story. See, it turned out Nightmare Moon was really the Princess Luna, she had been jealous of her sisters' control of the day, and how so few ponies appreciated her night, or so the story goes. Anyway, she tried to overthrow her sister, and Celestia used the elements on Luna, sending her to the moon for a thousand years. Whether she intended that to happen or not is up for debate, but when she came back, they made up and the princess was welcomed back with mostly open arms."

"Next question, what are these Elements of Harmony exactly?" "Well, as you can see, they are stones of ancient power, allegedly created in a bygone day for when order would need to be restored. There are six in all, and they are the embodiments of Honesty, Laughter, Generosity, Kindness, Loyalty, and Magic. They seem to work only when the bearers of the elements have one goal in mind, and even then to get the most out of them you need to have all of them. There have been rumors that any one of them can enhance the bearer by themselves, but that is yet to be proved."

"One more question. There are six ponies in this picture, and there are six elements, but there are only five here. Who is this sixth pony here?" he asked as he pointed to the pink haired pegasus. "Well Mr. Sonic, that happens to be the Element of Kindness, and my friend…"

Fluttershy and Shadow had searched the pods. Shadow realized that there were six beings here, and they had gone towards the castle. Wasting no time, they rushed straight there, the guards letting them both in. They were told that her friends were probably in the throne room because they had decided to take a Twilight led tour. They went there and found her friends, and the Rainbow one cried out "Fluttershy!" and all of them went straight towards her. But Shadow, Shadow froze in horror as he looked at the one thing he had never wanted to see again.

_If there was ever a time that the phrase 'seeing red' was literal, it was now. The forest was burning, the men and women he had called his brothers in arms lay on the ground, and his friend, the one he had cared for since he was young, lay dead at the feet of a monster he had given his trust to. Everything that had ever haunted him came to his mind, tore at it, tearing it to shreds. Then it was all clear. All he had to do was utterly destroy the thing that had done this. Rend it limb from limb. Then, all would be right again. _

The next few seconds were a blur. Shadow pulled his sword out and charged at Metal Sonic. Metal put a shield up in front of him, saving him from the blade, but pushing both of them out through the stained glass window. The others ran straight to that side of the throne room, and they saw Shadow going at Metal with everything he had. Shadow swiped at him, but he deflected the blows, sparks coming off of his arms, until he caught the blade and tossed it out into Canterlot. Then Metal, nearing the ground, deployed his jets, slowing him before he had fallen to the ground.

Shadow had landed above him, standing on one of the supporting ledges of the castle. "Shadow, what is the meaning of this?" asked Metal Sonic. "Don't play dumb here monster. You may have all of them fooled, but I know what you really are. You're a murdering liar, and that ends today." Metal looked down at himself, and then responded "I will admit freely that I have killed more men than any real person would have, but you must understand that I was merely a pawn of Dr. Robotonik. I've had no real control until recently. Please, let us talk before this gets out of hand." Shadow held his ears and cried "NO MORE WORDS! You killed every single one of them, and you think that you can earn my trust again? HA! I laugh at your pathetic attempts to stop me. Now you will feel my full wrath!"

Metal Sonic powered up his jets as Shadow slid down the wall. He then started boosting through the streets, Shadow hot on his heels. The first attack was made by Shadow, who attempted to use a chaos blast on Sonic. He easily dodged it, but there was a pothole where the blast had hit. Metal then saw several civilians in the way. He turned to the side, hoping to get away from them. He was fortunate he did, for Shadow then used a homing attack, which hit Metal, sending him flying forward, then skidding as he slowed down on the pavement. They had to take this fight to higher ground before it got out of hand. So Metal boosted himself to the rooftops, Shadow in close pursuit.

They had heard every word that had been said, and they had to admit they were shocked. Metal Sonic, a killer? Twilight couldn't believe what she had heard. If he wasn't destroyed before she could ask the questions. Twister turned to the day guard and told her to tell captain armor. He then took off after the fight, not tired enough to not keep an eye on it. Rainbow Dash followed him, and the rest ran to where the fight was headed, hoping to stop much from happening.

Metal Sonic swiped his hands at shadow, knocking away from his current position, and sped forward. Shadow turned and ran back at the robot, who had turned and sped forward at him. They hit and bounced of off each other, and then they ran forward, running into each other again. This happened a few times before Shadow used his chaos blast to send Metal Sonic through a building. Metal stopped himself after crashing through the building, and as soon as Shadow ran at him through the building at incredible speeds, Metal smacked him down to street level.

Shadow ran down through the ground, his mind fixated on destroying the metallic hedgehog. It was speeding at him through the narrow alleyways of the city, and he was dodging several blasts from its blast cannons. He then found himself in a dead end. He looked around for something, and then he saw the sword that Metal had tossed away. Then Metal showed up in front of him.

They looked at each other for seconds before charging at each other. Shadow hit Metal in the face which made Metal stumble back. Shadow attempted to follow up on that attack, but instead was countered by Metal, who then hit Shadow in his stomach. Now he stumbled for a second, before doing a roundhouse kick at the robot. He then made a chaos blast in his hand, but stopped when he saw Metal's cannons pointed at him. Metal then said "I do not wish to harm anyone but Dr. Robotonik. Please let us stop this fight before it gets more out of hand." Shadow heard sincerity in its voice and almost stopped himself right there, but he then remembered his fallen comrades at its feet, and he whispered "No."

The chaos blast hit Metal Sonic, knocking him into a wall, and then onto the ground. Shadow picked up his sword, and pointing it at the robot, said "You almost stayed my hand liar. But your hands are too red for me not to notice. Farewell abomination." He then raised his sword…

A magenta orb surrounded Metal, which deflected the sword. Shadow was surprised, but then looked over and saw the unicorn known as Twilight keeping the shield up. "What are you doing?!" he asked, bewildered. "That thing has killed so many innocents, and you're just going to defend it like it was a friend?" Twilight looked at him and said "You can't just kill him outright! With everything that's happened, how do we even know that's the one that you're thinking of?" He had to admit, that was a point. But whatever he had or hadn't done, he would still remember what had happened. He was sure of that.

Another magical presence showed up next to them. It was Shining Armor and the royal guard, readying weapons. "Metal Sonic, I hereby arrest you in the name of the people of Canterlot." Twilight, stunned, asked her brother "What?! Shining, what are you doing?" "Twiley, I know this thing saved your life, but if it's a murderer then I have to prosecute it to the fullest extent of the law. You do understand that, don't you?" She couldn't think of anything to answer to that. She lowered the shield and Metal got up, saying "Go ahead captain. I will give no resistance." With that, they grabbed him and took him towards the dungeons, Twilight hoping that she could get some real answers soon.


	7. Chapter 7: Aressted Developments

Fluttershy had to know just what exactly had gone through Shadow's mind when he had attacked Metal Sonic. She flew up behind him as he looked at the guard taking Metal straight to the dungeon. "Shadow?" she asked timidly. He turned around, looking somewhat worried. "They won't be able to hold him." She was startled and asked "What? What are you talking about Shadow?" His red eyes were suddenly alight with fire. "They don't know what they're holding on to. He will get loose and kill us all if I don't stop him."

He then tried to walk past her, but she put her hand on his shoulder, saying "Shadow, what did that thing do to you to deserve your hatred?" He looked straight at her. "I can't tell you. Your psyche wouldn't be able to handle it." She then got an idea of what it was. "It's about death isn't it? I can handle it. When you take care of animals for as long as I have, you see death from all different kinds of causes. From natural death to death for food, and even having to do it to put a creature out of its misery, I've experienced death. It's a natural part of life." He gave out a humph, saying "There's nothing natural about what happened to the people he's murdered. If you truly wish to know, I will tell you the story." She nodded, and he sat down to tell her the story.

"Back before this whole mess was caused by me, I was the leader of a resistance against a tyrant by the name of Robotonik. I, along with Princess Sally Acorn of the Acorn kingdom fought against him. He had created a robot named Metal Sonic, who he sent after us. He was entirely ruthless in his pursuit of us. One day though, he called and told us that he wished to defect to the resistance. I told him we needed a goodwill offering before I could trust him. He offered us a plant which we entirely destroyed, and I let him into our base. Tails told me that would be a bad idea. Honestly, I should have listened to him. He told us about a new shipment that had to be hit immediately. We went out, running straight into a trap sprung by Robotonik himself. Few of us got away from that. We ran straight back to base, but it was too late. Metal Sonic had destroyed the entirety of the resistance in almost one night." A small tear came out of his eye, and he choked a sob before continuing. "Tails lay at his feet; he had been choked to death. I then lost it. I destroyed that Metal Sonic until there was nothing left. Not even one single bolt."

Fluttershy now understood exactly why he had done it. He truly cared about his fellow pony, even if he didn't show it all the time. She couldn't honestly say what she would do if something like that ever happened to her. But she also remembered what Lady Nimue had said about this inter-dimensional mind mashing, and so she had to ask "But Shadow, why attack this Sonic? He obviously isn't the same one you fought. Why should you attack him?" He then looked at her dead serious and said "That thing is a robot. Robots remember things differently from us, so who's to say that even if he isn't that thing now, he won't turn into it later? I won't rest until I'm sure he won't betray us." He then got up and walked away, leaving Fluttershy with an aching heart. She knew there was more to his story then that, but she felt the need to help him regardless, in any way possible.

Shining Armor took a look at the mechanical being before him. He really hoped that his sister was right about him. He didn't know what he would do if the robot were found guilty. If only his wife Princess Cadence were here. He hadn't heard from her since all of this started happening, although she was in the Crystal Empire. Still, he hoped she hadn't been kidnapped by the same beings who took Luna and Celestia. He hoped she was safe, that he would… No. He had to stay focused. He had to find that things guilt or innocence. He had to talk to it.

The captain walked straight into the room, and the robot looked at him. "I presume you have questions as to this altercation?" "You're damn right I do. Two extremely powerful beings start a fight in my city and put a hole through a building, I'm going to want to ask questions. Now, this Shadow character claims that you know him. Do you?" It answered quickly. "Yes. A version of him at any rate." That was an interesting thing to say. "Wait, what do you mean 'a version of him'? Is there more than one him?" "I believe so. You see, I have a theory about how all of this came about." That got Armor's attention. "So, what is your theory about all of this?"

"If you must know, I believe that several universes have merged, taking similar beings from each of them and mixing them up. Though if I am correct, this has had effects on everything in each of the affected universes, from who is standing and talking to what we remember. For example, the fox known as Miles swears he saw me standing over his body before his death, only he's still alive, and I never killed anyone resembling him. I believe he is from one of the other merged dimensions, and remembered me from another universe." That would certainly explain a lot. He hoped that he could get more clear answers out of him.

"Do you then deny his claims that you are a liar and a killer?" Metal looked down at the ground, answering "His claims that I have lied are false, however, I have killed." He had really hoped not to hear that come from his mouth. "How many have you killed?" he asked in a quiet voice. "Hundreds, though they were not of my volition." That wasn't something he expected to hear. "What do you mean by that? Were you under some kind of control?" "Yes." He answered.

"The man who created me, he gave me an artificial intelligence, but gave me an obedience chip so I wouldn't rebel against him. However, the last time we met, Shadow beat it out of me." "He did what?!" "He physically beat it out of me. I had resented my creator since day one, so this freedom allowed me to do the thing I'd wanted to do for years." "And that was?" "Kill the loathsome creature that made me."

Twilight had been waiting in the dungeon for her brother to finish his interrogation, and she realized that she didn't need to ask Metal Sonic why he had done what he had done. She had heard everything from his theory to his hate of his creator. She could hear, even feel the truth coming from his voice. Why would this Shadow doubt him? Stopping her thinking, she listened to the interrogation.

"What was the name of your creator?" "His name is Dr. Ivo Robotonik. He is a genius with a mind twisted for evil, and he's ruthless. He will stop at nothing to get what he wants, and if I'm right, he is here with us." "If he's as ruthless as you say, then why hasn't he attacked yet?" "I do not know. Perhaps he is surveying his territory currently; perhaps he is losing power in his bases due to the dimensional inter-travel. Either way, you should prepare for a war against machines." She would have to ask the others about this 'Dr. Robotonik'. For now, she had to find Shadow.

The others had started talking, wondering why this had happened. Rarity said "If that thing is a killer, then what should we do? Why would a being like him kill people?" Sinbad replied "Why not? It's a mechanical being, and they aren't known for their thinking skills." Rarity put her hands on either side of her head. "I don't know, what do you think Applejack?" Applejack looked over and said "If you want my honest opinion, I have no idea what the hay to think about all of this. He seemed like a nice fella beforehand, but now, I'm not sure."

Rainbow Dash and Twister were talking a bit themselves. "So what do you think about all of this Twister?" "I'm honestly shocked at the amount of power these guys had. I mean, how do you get that powerful without so much as a unicorn horn? It honestly scares me to think that somepony could, in fact do that much damage without so much as a scratch on him." Dash had to agree, to think of that kind of power in the wrong hands scared her. "Still though, that fight was awesome, wouldn't you agree?"

"Oh, most definitely. But that isn't really the point. They have an insane amount of power, and the one called the other a killer. What if his accusations are true? How can we stop something like that?" She disliked the melancholy that hung about this conversation, and therefore she changed the subject. "So, you think the Wonderbolts are close to accepting me as a member?" He did give her a look before answering "I honestly can't say. The only thing I heard was that the captain was truly impressed by what you did. After that, I couldn't say how close you are."

Dash thought for a second. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Say, where is Captain Spitfire anyway? Is she here?" Twister answered "No, I think she's out surveying and searching for the princesses along with the day pegasi. Speaking of which, I should probably head to bed, I've got a lot of work to do tonight. It was nice meeting you Ms. Dash; perhaps we can do it again later." He waved, heading in the direction of the barracks. She waved back, hoping to see him later as well.

Twilight had found Shadow outside the dungeon, probably waiting for his interrogation. She then walked straight to him. "Shadow?" he looked at her. "Hmm, you're the one who stopped me from ending that mechanical monstrosity." "Yes. My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I had a few questions. Would you mind answering them?" He nodded. "Alright, I was in there listening to the interrogation of Metal Sonic, and I heard him mention a Dr. Ivo Robotonik. Do you know him?" He closed his eyes for a second before opening them, replying "Yes, I know him. He is the greatest scientific genius in the world with an IQ of 300. He is also the grandson of my creator, Professor Gerald Robotonik."

"Your what now?!" she asked, totally caught off guard. "My creator. See, unlike you who undoubtedly had a mother and father, I was created in a lab by a professor of science. I was meant to be his greatest achievement, a being that could show humanity the way to conquering disease. Of course, the well meaning scientists always get the short end of the stick don't they? Long story short, the project was shut down, I was cryogenically frozen, and wasn't woken up until his grandson had taken over the world. The resistance's leader at the time told me that I was their only hope, not that I did them much good." His face was now a bitter mask, and he had nearly muttered the last sentence.

"As for the man himself? He is a man twisted and evil, wanting to conquer all he sees. What he doesn't kill, he turns into his robotic hordes, totally loyal to him and him alone. Heed my words, even now he is getting ready to conquer your homes, and if you do not ready every one of yourselves to fight this menace, he will be triumphant. I have no more answers to give. If you wish answers, talk to your friend Fluttershy. Or better yet, stay and listen to the captain's interrogation of me. Goodbye." That cut her to the quick. She wasn't a nosy pony; she just wanted to know as much as she could. She decided that it was time to check up on her old library anyway, and see if she could find a specific book she had once deigned only an interesting theory.

They had all gone looking for Twilight, seeing as they hadn't seen her since the end of that attack. The first suggestion was to look for her in the dungeon since she had been saved by the metallic being now incarcerated there. When they got there however, the guard in the front had told them that she had left about a half hour earlier. Shadow was released, having answered all his questions, and they all left the dungeon.

"Well, where do we go now?" asked Rarity, who honestly didn't know where to go. Then suddenly Spike had an idea. "I know where she went! She must've gone back to our old home, the Canterlot public library!" Rarity gave the dragon a look, saying "Oh Spike, that's a capital idea. Alright then, does that sound good to you all?" All gave their agreement, and off they went.

Sinbad then saw something on Applejack's butt. She had a tattoo on each of her cheeks, both of them a three apple design. He had to ask "Why do you have apples tattooed on your butt?" She glared for a second before answering "First off, it's called my flank, second, you shouldn't really be starin' at it ya perve. Third, those 'tattoos' are called cutie marks, and they symbolize something that makes me unique. I suppose you don't have anything like that?" "Not yet at any rate. So yours has something to do with apples then?" "Yea, but they aren't always obvious. Some can even be quite arbitrary." Sinbad shrugged. "Alright, if you say so."

Then Rainbow asked "Say, what are these things that are on our chests anyway? I mean, we never had them before, but if they're here now they must be here for some reason." Sinbad put his hand over his mouth, snorting noises coming out of it before he finally stopped. He the answered "Sorry, but I'm not a doctor, so I'm not sure what those are called." Shadow gave him a glare, but said nothing.

Lady Percival had been looking at Shadow ever since he had joined their company. She had to know, was this Shadow, or was it Sir Lancelot? The way he acted, he could be either, though she wished it were Lancelot. When they had been children, he had been her closest friend. He never told her what she couldn't do, instead telling her to go and follow her dreams. It was that drive that had made her become a knight and seek the Holy Grail. She was eternally thankful and glad that she knew him, though she often wondered if there was more between them. She had to know.

"Shadow, could I ask you something?" He turned around and saw that Lady Percival had addressed him, and answered "Of course milady." They stopped, him waiting for her to ask her question. She took a deep breath before finally asking "Are you Shadow or Sir Lancelot?"

That had caught him off guard. Quickly, he brought up every moment he could in his memory of Lancelot about Percival. He then saw why she would ask a question like that. The man obviously loved this woman, and he guessed she felt something similar. There was no easy way to say what he was about to say, but he couldn't lie to her. "No I'm not. I wish now that I really was him, but I am not. I still have his memories, but I am not him." Her gold eyes dimmed after hearing that, and she looked to the ground.

"If it is any consolation, I am truly sorry that such a friendship as yours had to end." She looked at him, replying "Don't be sorry, just remember what he stood up for, why he did what he did. Then, he won't truly be gone, right?" She then walked off. Shadow wasn't sure if he should go after her or not, but decided to let her think her position over, and went to rejoin the others.

Then a Pink pony jumped into the middle of their group. "Hey guys!" she cried, surprising everyone. She then took a look at everyone there, and she spotted Miles. "Hey there Mr. Prower! Say, that kind of sounds stuffy, do you mind if I give you a nickname? How about Tails? That sounds great, do you like it? Do ya do ya do ya?!" The only thing he said in reply was "Sure, I guess so."

"Fantastic! And I'm sorry about not really staying at the time; I had a lot of work to do, getting your party ready. But one of the guests is incarcerated so now I decided to come with you guys and see if I can get him out legally so the party can begin!" Shadow glanced at her saying "You want him let go? Why?" She answered "He's a great guy; even you have to admit that he isn't as bad as his other versions Mr. Shadow." He was flabbergasted. "But, how did you know what my name is, and what do you mean about other versions of him? I mean, why is, who are, what do…" he said, trying to think of what to say. Applejack put a hand on his shoulder. "Just don't. Trust me; it will be better if you just don't question it." He decided she was probably right. "Alrighty, Let's go see if we can find Twilight! To the Library!" she said, skipping along her merry way. The others followed, hoping to find a pony with some sense in her head.

When they arrived at the library, they found that there were books strewn across the floor, a definite sign that Twilight had been there. Spike then saw a book flying directly towards him, dodging it just in time. "Twilight?" he called out. "No, no, no, no, not this one either." She said, punctuating each 'no' with a book thrown. "Arggh, where could it be?" she asked, aggravated. She was up on the second floor, looking for a specific book.

"Where could what be Twilight?" asked Rarity, who had walked up the stairs. "What?" she asked, looking up and seeing their group, all looking at her. "Oh, hi guys. I was just looking for a book." "And what book would that be miss bookworm?" asked Rainbow Dash. "That book happens to be _The Theory of Alternate World_s by Starswirl the Bearded. If I remember correctly, it should have something to say about this whole predicament." Shadow had to give her credit. She had found the reason behind this whole crisis without having to be told by a mystical being. "There's only one problem. It isn't where I put it last time I had it, and now I can't find it."

They all searched the library for a minute before Pinkie said "Wow, this Starswirl guy was really something, you know that?" All of them looked at Pinkie, who was on the first floor in the middle of the building. "Pinkie, did you find the book?" asked Twilight. "Yep, it was under M for multiverse." Twilight just shook her head as she walked to her friend, taking the book from her hands.

She flipped through the pages trying to find something, and stopped on a page which she read aloud from. "This multiverse, as I have so called it, is protected by a shell that I cannot exactly explain. In short, it is a barrier that keeps these worlds I have mentioned from ever meeting. As to the why, I believe it is because there cannot be a conjoining of worlds because of the undisputed fact that two objects cannot exist in the same place, and the mere attempt of joining worlds without interference from both sides would result in both of the worlds tearing themselves apart. That said, beings from other worlds can find their way to ours by complete accident, and vice versa."

"In other words, this whole predicament we are in is impossible." concluded Twilight. "There is no way that these worlds we each came from could fuse themselves together." "That's not entirely true Twilight…" squeaked a voice behind them. "Fluttershy, what are you doing in here?" "I didn't mean to intrude, but I came looking for a book, then everypony else came in and I sort of, hid in the corner." She looked somewhat ashamed, but then her friends reassured her, saying they wouldn't let anypony else harm her. "It's alright Fluttershy. Say, what did you mean that it wasn't entirely true?" asked Dash. "Well, um, you see…"

She explained the entirety of Shadow's and her adventure before coming to them, even Lady Nimue's explanation for this predicament. She even showed them the map that she had given them. It was a map of the entirety of the world, from Canterlot to Camelot, from Robotropolis to Shamar. Twilight stared at the map for minutes before finally saying "This is amazing! I mean, not only is inter-dimensional configuration possible, but we have an actual working model in front of us. This is probably the greatest moment in Equestria's scientific history!" Sinbad seemed to think for a second. "Okay, that explains how your world, Shadow's world and Metal Sonic's world came together, but what about my world? And Lady Percival's? Something just isn't right about this, I know it."

"Well, that certainly was an interesting explanation of what's going on." said a voice from the library's door. Twilight looked up and saw her brother standing behind them. "Shining, what are you doing here?" "If you must know, I was looking for Fluttershy in order to get some information out of her, though it seems that is not necessary. Now, would you be so kind as to hand over that map?" he asked, extending his hand. They almost seemed reluctant to do so before Shadow grabbed it and gave it to the captain.

He looked over the map, and then he grabbed something from his pocket, another piece of paper. Looking at both at the same time, he signaled a guard, handing over the large map, and told him to get the cartographers to copy this map as soon as possible. The guard saluted his captain and dashed towards the cartographers. "Don't worry sis, you guys will get your map back as soon as possible. We're just copying it so we can have a better idea of where to look for the princesses." Twilight nodded her head, understanding why he would do this.

"What about Metal Sonic? Have you come to a decision about him?" she asked. He sighed. "I do not know what to do about him. I've heard all these different testimonies that I can't be sure whose side to be on. If I had any sort of reliable character witness, one that actually came from his world, I'd be able to tell you for sure. But for now, he stays locked up, right where I left him."

Metal sat in his cell, waiting for the inevitable judgment to come. "Look at yourself." came a voice from within the cell. He turned around and saw a pink hedgehog next to him. "You wait for judgment as if that was all that you are here for. You are here for a bigger reason than paying for crimes you did not commit." He looked at her a second before answering. "I do not know who you are, or what you think you know of me, but I'd suggest leaving now, before the guards keep you in here with me." She gave him an exasperated look, replying "What I think I know about you is that the Doctor has long had you in his control. I've watched you since even before you could possibly imagine or remember. I know that beneath that robotic surface, you are the most selfless being I know. I also know that this world needs your help, and by extension so do I. Will you help us Sonic?"

"That name is not mine!" he shouted at her. "That is the name of a hero, not me. I am not but a pawn of a madman." "Whether or not that is true, we all need your help. I will drag you out of here with my hands if I have to, but I hope it will not come to that. Please, for the sake of all that is good and holy, just take my hand." She extended her hand, waiting for his response. He hesitated for a second before grasping her hand. She smiled as a bright light engulfed them both.

When a bright flash entered the room, Captain Armor had to admit astonishment when he saw Metal Sonic and a pink Hedgehog standing before him. He quickly bit back his astonishment and asked "Mind telling me how you got out of that dungeon?" The pink hedgehog quickly answered "Forgive my forwardness captain, but this is necessary for the situation at hand. I am Lady Nimue, and I will be the character witness you so desire."

Before Shining could say another word, a hyper pink pony suddenly spouted out "Hey Nimue! How are you doing?" She replied "I am fine Miss Pie, but are you sure now is the time to be talking?" "Oh of course! It's been sooo long since we've had one of these chats." "Pinkie, you know this person?" asked Twilight. "Oh absolutely! Guys, this is Lady Nimue, my extra-dimensional friend. Lady Nimue, these are the friends I told you about." "Wait, Pinkie, what do you mean extra-dimensional? How do you know this woman?" asked Twilight, who was confused as everybody else.

"I will explain that." said Nimue. "Your friend and I share an ability that allows us to see through other dimensions. That is how I will be your character witness, and why she comes off as odd to most of you." All of them were flabbergasted. It made almost perfect sense once they thought about it. Then Pinkie suddenly gasped. "That's where I remember you from. I saw you all back in your home dimensions! Ooh, the plot thickens!" They took a look around at themselves before shrugging and looking at the pink woman before them.

Shining Armor asked the first question. "You say you can testify to the character of this metal being. What do you have to say about him?" She looked at the captain as she said "In all the worlds I have seen, of all the people I've watched, I've seen none as misunderstood as this version of Metal Sonic. He never wanted to kill; his killing was only caused by a control chip that was implanted into his brain. A chip that was destroyed after his world's Shadow beat it out of him. And afterwards, what was the first thing he did?" she asked, nobody answering. "He turned on the being who had used him to kill those people. Though he has regret for what his body did while his mind rebelled, he still went after the madman responsible for all his crimes. If that is not the character of a being that deserves to be freed, then I don't know what is."

Shining obviously thought about this for a minute, before finally saying "I believe that what you say is true milady. However, I cannot just let him go without some insurance to know that he can be truly trusted. Therefore, I will release Metal Sonic, but only under someponies' watchful eye." The lady smiled, knowing that he would see her reason. But who would watch this being? Suddenly, Twilight stepped forward and said "I will."

Shining looked at her for a second. "Absolutely not! I will not let you alone with this dangerous robot. Somepony else will have to do it." She looked at her brother in disbelief. "Are you saying I can't handle myself brother? Do you remember that incident back in the Crystal Empire? Or how about when Nightmare Moon came down from the moon and I was the only pony who knew what was happening? Am I not trustworthy?" He shook his head, saying "Sis, it's not that I don't trust you, it's just that you're my sister, and, well, I want you to be safe is all."

A throat started clearing from the doorway. "Excuse me sir, how about me?" When they looked at the new voice and saw Twister Tail at the door. "Hey, I thought you went to bed." said Rainbow Dash. "What can I say? I'll sleep when I'm dead. Sir, I volunteer for this mission, if you would allow me to do so." He said with a salute. "You have my permission. You will have to watch this one like a hawk, and keep your eyes on him. Well, I have to go and tell the other guards about what just happened. Your job starts now private, and that's an order." He then walked out of the door and towards the dungeons.

"So what are you doing up Twister? You looked pretty tired when I last saw you. How are you even staying up right now?" asked Rainbow Dash. "I only need a couple of hours to sleep for a day, and besides, I couldn't stay out of excitement like this if someone hogtied me to a chair." Rainbow asked him "So why are you doing this? Didn't you say his power scared you?" "Hell yes I did. But I'm coming along because I'm expendable as hell. Also, if he comes after me I'll give you guys the girliest scream you ever did hear, giving you guys a chance to stop him after he's done with me." Dash patted him on the back of his head. "You have to be fairly thoughtless to have done it for those reasons." "Thanks, that has to be the nicest way of saying 'you're a dumbass' that I ever did hear." Most of the group laughed at that, with the exception of Metal Sonic and Shadow.

"Alright, since Fluttershy already told you about these other dimensions, I can get down to business." She said, but before she could say anything else, Sinbad asked "Hold up just one minute. I know why two of these universes came together, but what about Lady Percival's, or mine for that matter? Why would they be brought together?" She closed her eyes before answering. "To be honest, the only answer I can come up with is that someone shifted the extra energies of the two chaos controls, bringing ours along with theirs. I cannot say beyond that. Does that answer your question?" He nodded slowly.

"What I need you to do is get the other sacred swords from their resting places. There are only two left, Caliburn and Galatine." Then Shadow asked "Do you mind if I ask why these hocus pocus swords are so important?" "They are important because their properties allow them to deflect any projectile, be it magical, man, or god made. They will be necessary in the battles to come. Any other questions from any of you?" None had a single question to ask.

"Very well then. The swords are in two different places, so the best way to do this would be to split up into two teams and go get them. Caliburn is in the deep woods, somewhere in the heart of the Everfree forest, while Galatine is on the Titanic plain, between here and Ponyville. Any suggestions?" Metal Sonic spoke first. "Splitting up is not a sound idea unless we have some form of inter-communication between groups." Shadow agreed. "As much as I hate to admit it, he's right. From what I've seen, you don't seem to have the technological knowhow to make radio communicators, so how would we be able to update each other?"

Twilight gave an answer after a second. "I might have a way. Spike and I have been practicing a little something, just in case we got separated and needed to speak to each other. See, I've learned that I can teleport objects to places and even specific ponies. Just watch." She grabbed a book off of the floor and then surrounded it with magic. It disappeared in a flash, reappearing in front of Metal Sonic. He grabbed it and looked at it, somewhat impressed. "Nifty." said Sinbad. "But how does that help us in this case?" "Spike can also send messages to anypony he wants to. He uses it to send my messages to Princess Celestia, but we can use it to send messages between the teams, if need be."

Metal Sonic replied. "That would be adequate for our needs, now we need to decide the make up of the teams. Any suggestions?" Twister spoke up first. "I've gotta go with Metal over here, that much I know. I also guess that Spike and Twilight are going to have to split up as well, if only for communication. Aside from that, I've got nothing." Nimue said after that "There will be team leaders to each team. Since Galatine was the sword of sir Gawain, I suggest that Sinbad lead that team. As for Caliburn, you Metal are the only one of us who can wield it, so you will be leading that team."

If Metal had been a real hedgehog, his eyes would have widened. "Me? How can I be the only one who can wield it? Surely there is someone else who…" He was then interrupted by Lady Nimue. "The sword only responds to certain people, and I can sense who it responds to. It's responding to you, so it is your sword. Need I say more?" He would have asked more questions, but he lacked sufficient data to do so, so he stayed silent.

At the end, Metal Sonic's team consisted of Twilight, Twister, Tails, Francis, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. Sinbad's team was Shadow, Rarity, Spike, Rainbow Dash, Percival, Santa Fuega, and Fluttershy. "Alright, now that the teams are decided, we should have a plan on what to do after we get the swords." said Twilight, who was at this time unofficially leading this part of the meeting. Sinbad spoke up. "Well, I think we should have a base of operations so to speak, if only to have a place to rest after missions and restock our supplies."

Tails said "Why not here good sirs? It seems to be well fortified, and we can probably keep everything we find on theses missions. It seems the ideal place to me." Metal Sonic replied "It would be, but the folk of this town will probably not be willing to aid the beings who destroyed their houses in a fight. They will most certainly not trust me, and as for Shadow, they will fear his power." Shadow had to nod in agreement. Its logic was sound enough, even if he didn't trust it. "Are there any other places nearby?" he asked.

Lady Nimue had seen the map get taken by Armor, and she had thus given them one that was exactly like it. They took a look, when Pinkie shouted "Ooh, brainstorm! Why don't we make our base Ponyville? It's close enough to here that we could store stuff here, and we can always restock at all the vendors in the markets. Plus, we'll be able to protect it from any of the meanies that try to invade. Does that sound like a plan or what?" Most were shocked by the display of sound logic that had just come from Pinkie's mouth. Shadow then said "That is probably the soundest decision you could make, unless someone else has a better idea." No objections or suggestions were raised.

"One question." said Metal Sonic. "What are we to do about the master emerald? If Dr. Robotonik even suspects that it's here, he will send an army to get it back by force. What's to stop him from doing so?" Twister responded "The unicorn guards of this city know all kinds of offensive and defensive magic. If they don't want something in this city, chances are that they aren't going to get in. Besides, they'd be able to keep most of the threat out until we got here to stop it at any rate. They'll be able to keep it safe, am I right?" Metal begrudgingly nodded his head. Lady Nimue spoke. "It seems you have no further need of me. I will see what needs to be done next. Until we meet again, my friends." She then dissolved into a water form and promptly disappeared.

"Alright then, we move out tomorrow. Get some rest until then." Shadow said this before getting his hand promptly grabbed by Pinkie Pie. "Oh no you don't mister Grumpypants. I prepared a party for all you new arrivals to our universe, and if there's one thing I can't do, it's leave a party unattended. You're all coming with me." She then started dragging Shadow, who was surprised and confused, straight out the door. Francis looked back at the others after the spectacle was over and said "C'mon guys, let's go before she comes back to drag us all there." Agreeing, they quickly ran for the dining hall, all wondering if any of them really understood just how deep they were into this situation.


	8. Chapter 8: A Journey Begins pt 1

The party itself was an interesting affair that lasted till the end of the day. There were many games that were played, not the least of which was pin the tail on the pony, many consumables consumed, and many friends, here and long gone, remembered. The party ended after Metal explained that the bumps on their chests were mammary glands, to which everyone decided it best to leave for bed, save Shadow, who had left before sundown. All went to designated rooms and attempted to sleep the night away, save Metal Sonic, who didn't need to recharge yet.

The next morning, both of the groups set out to get supplies, minus Shadow, Metal, and Twister for obvious reasons. They each had a set amount to spend on items they would need on their trip, such as food, blankets, camping equipment, and medical kits. Each of the mobians were paired with a pony so as not to get lost.

Francis, Rarity and Tails were heading towards the place where they could get camping equipment, when Rarity heard a voice to her left. When she looked, she saw a sorrowful sight. There was a maroon coated stallion lying on the ground with a wrap around his leg, begging the nobles and peasants for some money. He wasn't having any luck, the peasants telling him they couldn't help because they didn't have the bits, and the nobles walked away without so much as a good morning.

Rarity walked up to the stallion and said "Hello there. Why are you begging good sir?" He almost did a double take before answering her. "Well, if you hadn't noticed, my leg is in a pretty bad condition right now, thanks to a drunken noble and his runaway cart. I tried to get him to pay for what was his accident, but he had a team of lawyers that made it all look like it was my fault, and the court ruled in his favor. Now I need some bits to get the doctors to fix my leg, but no one wants to work with a pony with a bad leg now, do they?"

Rarity felt compassion for this poor man, and asked "How many bits do you need?" He looked at his bag where he kept his money. "I only need about thirty bits more, but I couldn't ask you to give me that much ma'am." She at first reached into her bag, but stopping herself, she took her hand out and gave him the entire bag. He was shocked and said "I don't need this much, here take it back." She waved her hand and said "To the contrary my dear fellow, you need all the help you can get. Besides, that bag has more bits than I need for what I'm doing. Keep the bag and get your leg fixed up so you can get some work. Goodbye good sir." She then turned around and walked away, but he asked "Say, if I wanted to return this later, who would I return it to?" She replied "My name's Rarity dear, and please keep the money, I don't want it."

Francis had seen the whole display, and he felt he might have misjudged her. Tails asked when she got back "Are you sure giving him all that money was a wise decision?" She held her palm in front of his face and said "My dear friend, we have more than enough bits to get what we need and a little bit more. I was just giving him some surplus money. Besides, I'll get it back through my business when I get back to it. Now come along friends, we have to get our equipment." She walked away, leading them to the shop.

They had gotten several tents and blankets, along with some stuff for starting fires and lanterns with oil, in case of running into dark areas. Francis took most of the burden as he was used to it, but the other two took some as well, and they were only headed back to the gates, where they had arranged to go after getting the supplies. As Francis walked past Rarity, he held out his hand, saying "I was wrong about you earlier. I thought that you were just a woman who only cared about how she looked, but instead you seem to be a very generous person. So I'm doing this to apologize for what I did." She took his hand and shook it while saying "I accept your apology, but do not thank me for something that should be done by anyone dear. Come along, we have to get moving." 'Truly you are a fascinating woman.' He thought to himself as she walked away.

Twilight, Fluttershy and Sinbad had been tasked with getting the medical supplies they needed for the trip. Fluttershy was still trying to get over the fact that her mammary glands were showing, even if everypony else's were showing too. What should she do? Should she put on something to cover them up? Should she just act normally until somepony else came up with a solution? She had no idea what to do.

They made they're way to the purveyors of strange plants in the area, Sinbad and Twilight figuring out what would give the best remedies and buying them. Fluttershy walked up and asked "Um, Twilight?" She turned around "Yes Fluttershy, what is it?" "Um, about what was said last night, about the changes to our bodies. Do you have any ideas as to what we're supposed to do about it?" Twilight rolled her eyes and said "Fluttershy, if I told you I know what reaction I'm supposed to have, I'd be lying through my teeth. However, I can honestly say that our coats seem to be covering up anything that could be considered inappropriate, so we should be just fine. If you want to wear something, that's your decision, but you have to make it. Let's go, we need to get some actual emergency kits before we head back." And so they went looking for medical kits.

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Lady Percival and Santa Fuega were in charge of getting food for their company, and they went looking for whatever food they could find, packing everything from apples to carrots and celery. Pinkie tried to get them to take some cakes along, but Applejack made the argument that they couldn't possibly carry cakes in a pack without them getting ruined by the constantly moving provisions. Pinkie had to begrudgingly agree.

During the party, Rainbow Dash had told Percival about her dream of becoming a Wonderbolt, apparently the greatest aerial beings throughout the land. Percival was going to tell her something, but then Pinkie had started pin the tail on the pony, and was making Shadow go first. The poor man seemed like he was practically begging for help. It was hilarious watching him fall on his ass and get the tail stuck on it, which all had a good laugh at except for Shadow, who was hissing in pain, and the mechanical being, who she wasn't sure had feelings at all. In any case, she wanted to talk to Dash.

"Ms. Dash, could I have a word with you for a minute?" she asked. "Sure thing, just a second." She answered, finally getting a price on a bag of daffodils, which were apparently quite delicious. She then flew over to her, asking "Okay, so what did you want to say?" She breathed in before saying "You remember what you told me last night? About you wanting to be a Wonderbolt?" She nodded and said "Yahuh, I remember that, what about it?" Percival kind of looked downward before answering. "I just wanted to say that you should keep following your dreams, no matter what people might say. It's what I had to do in order to become a knight, and I didn't do it until a friend told me exactly what I told you. That's all I wanted to say really." She then walked off.

Rainbow Dash thought that hat was kind of weird, and decided to ask somepony who might now just what that was all about. "Hey Santa, can I ask you a question?" She turned around and answered "Sure thing." "Why is Percival acting all kinda weird?" The black mare sighed. "I haven't the slightest idea why. Though, she has been acting strangely ever since she met that Shadow fellow. Maybe it's because he looks like Sir Lancelot? I will have to investigate further." They then saw that the others were getting ahead of them and went back to join the group.

All had returned to the gates that morning around ten 'o clock. Each team had their supplies split between them evenly, and they then split into their teams and went towards their objectives, their minds clear on the goal at hand.

Sinbad's team marched through the Titanic Plain, a place which Percival described as "rolling grass with bits of rock strewn between." The vistas you could get were beautiful however, and you could see for miles, and they were even able to see Canterlot and Ponyville from their positions on the plains. There were also many hills in between the two places.

"Alright, where do we start looking Sinbad?" asked Shadow. Sinbad took a look around before answering "If this sword is anywhere, it's going to be in one of these ruins on the hilltops. If I'm remembering this place right from Sir Gawain's memory, there's a large ruin several miles to the southeast of here where he used to frequent. We ought to reach there by about 6:00 pm if we go at our current pace. Let's move out." They then followed their adventurous leader as he led them through the sea of hilly grass.

Fluttershy followed Shadow as he walked, but she noticed something she hadn't before. He had two rings on his hand, one a silver ring with a green gem, the other a golden ring with a magenta gem. She asked "Shadow, I hope you don't mind, but, uh, I have a question to ask you." Shadow turned around and asked in reply "What do you want to ask?" She sort of sputtered before asking "What are those two rings around your wrists?" He looked down at his wrists before answering "These things? The one with the magenta jewel is mine, the other one I'm holding for… a friend. It's funny, there's a hocus pocus story to go with these things, but it's almost impossible to believe." Fluttershy suddenly felt compelled to ask "What's the story?"

He sort of shrugged. "It's the sort of tale you hear from a mythology book really. It starts out with this one being who has existed since time immemorial, named Gaia. He protects the peoples of the world from all sorts of dangers, from natural to man-made, and even to extraterrestrial dangers. Then one day, a wizard decides to split the force of Gaia in half so he can take over the earth, so he takes half of his power and creates dark Gaia. However, even with Gaia's power split in half, they still have one goal in mind, protect the earth."

"So they manage to stop the wizard, but they find themselves disagreeing almost to the point of failure, so instead they give their powers to people who can handle them, as a sort of emissary. These rings are supposedly the signs that are given so that others know that you are Dark or Light Gaia's champion, green being for light, magenta for dark. It's just a fairytale though, don't go believing all the nonsense you hear." It was most certainly an interesting tale, but she had to ask "Where did you get that ring then?" He sort of looked downward before answering "I got his from the same friend that I'm holding this ring for." She could tell he didn't want any more questions, and so she stopped asking questions.

Metal's team found themselves on the northern edge of the Everfree forest, waiting to go inside. Applejack seemed a bit trepidatious to enter the actual forest, saying "It ain't natural. The clouds move and make rain by themselves, and the critters take care of themselves." Metal looked at her before saying "Where I come from, that's the natural order of things. Now come along, we have to find this sword as fast as possible."

"Any ideas leader?" asked Twilight. Metal looked at her and said "Lady Nimue said we would find the sword in the heart of the forest, which is southwest of our position. If we go straight southwest, we might be able to run into it, and maybe we can find something that will lead us to it. We need to get moving though, spending time in a forest at night leads to much danger and could lead to dismemberment. We should stick together so we don't get lost." He then walked into the forest, the others following behind him as he walked.

Francis was the first to ask a question. "So, what exactly did you mean when you said the clouds move on their own? How do they move here?" Twister answered his question. "The pegasi move the clouds around here, they also control the weather, making sure that everyone gets their fair share of rain and shine throughout the land. Isn't that a great system?" "Yeah, I guess. It certainly would help out the farmers wouldn't it?"

Applejack interjected "Yes siree, it certainly does. No part of Equstria has had a drought for about 300 years. The only reason this forest isn't taken care of is because it seems to have its own system of making clouds with something that pushes them forward. It's not natural." They let it off at that, not wanting to repeat the conversation.

Pinkie then started talking somewhat hushedly to Twister. "So Twister, did ya enjoy the party?" He answered "Oh yeah, that was a terrific party, you should do that for a living! The food was fantastic, the games were funny and exciting, and the decorations" he took a second to smack his lips "superb. You have a knack for this, don't you?" She put her hand up. "Of course I do, but I can't help but notice that you were in the company of Rainbow Dash most of the night. Care to explain that?"

He looked somewhat confused and answered "What's there to explain? We were just talking about our flying exploits and a couple of funny stories that we had. I mean, it's not like she's my marefriend at any rate." Pinkie somewhat cornered him. "Ah, but you do like her, don't you?" He backed up from her and her outward popping eyeballs and, after taking a second to compose himself, replied "Of course I do, what's not to like? She's funny, she's got lots of interesting stories, and from what I hear she's also the element of loyalty, which speaks volumes for her character. Granted she seems boastful at times, but if you were that awesome you would tell stories like that some of the time. Say, I think we should stick with the group, don't you?" He then wiggled his way away from her and began walking back to the group, hoping she didn't keep asking questions like that.

Twilight walked up next to Metal Sonic and said "We haven't had much of a chance to talk since you got arrested. So, is it really true that Robotonik had a loyalty chip implanted on you after he had created you?" The robot looked as if it was deep in thought before answering "He did; now if you do not mind, I do not wish to reflect upon those memories. Besides, we have a job to do."

He seemed to walk at a faster pace, prompting her to move faster as well. "But, why would he need to build a loyalty chip into you if you were his robot?" He turned on his heel and said "Why should I know? Maybe he knew that my intelligence would lead me to betray him eventually. It doesn't matter at any rate; I'm just a robot, that's all I've ever been." He then started walking away, and she kept pushing the question. "It doesn't make any sense. If you were truly just a robot as you claim, then how could you have such feelings as you do, be able to act as if you're a person?" He seemingly ignored the question, which made Twilight think to herself 'I will get through that thick skull of yours Metal Sonic, and I will get my answers, even it takes me years.'

As they walked through the plains, Shadow could swear he saw something akin to a dust cloud on the plains. He alerted the others to this potential danger and asked Rainbow Dash to scout ahead. When she came back, she had this to say. "There's an entire army of black things moving to the northwest." Rarity then asked "Oh dear! Are they headed for Canterlot?" Dash replied "No, they were headed for someplace in between the forest and Canterlot." Sinbad checked the map. Let's see, according to this map, if your directions are correct, they're heading towards an old fortress in the north, a place by the name of White Acropolis." He then pointed at Spike. "Spike, I think it's time we test out our communications. Send a message to Twilight."

Twilight was the first to notice the message, as it appeared in front of her face. She picked it out of the air and began reading. "Dear Twilight and Co. We have encountered an army of things seemingly headed towards a place called White Acropolis; however, it is possible that they could be headed for Canterlot. Any suggestions on how to proceed? Signed, Spike and Co." She then began to write a letter back, and having finished it, sent it back in a flash of light.

A few minutes later, Twilights message came through Spike. Shadow grabbed it and read "Dear Spike and Co. We suggest you keep on your mission to retrieve the sword and leave the marching beings to themselves. However, we also advise that you send a message to Shining Armor in Canterlot, advising him to stay on guard in case these beings head for the city instead. Also, keep an eye out for any scouts in your path. Sincerely, Twilight and Co." Spike immediately wrote a letter to Armor, explaining the situation to him.

As Spike wrote the letter, Rarity walked over to Rainbow Dash and asked "So, I saw you making conversation with that colt at Pinkie's party last night. Is there something going on between you that I should know about?" Rainbow looked at her friend exasperatedly. "Rarity, I never thought you would try to set me up with somepony. I'll admit that he's great guy, he's funny, he's got some interesting stories, and he seems willing to protect his friends at any cost, from what I've heard anyway. But the way you say it he's already my coltfriend. Yeesh, give me a break." Rarity looked at her before saying "Alright, but those looks you were giving him suggested a little more than friendship dear." and she walked slightly away.

After the message was sent, they continued on their way to the old ruins. Shadow couldn't help but feel like they were being watched as they continued, but as he looked to where he thought they were being watched from, he saw nothing. He was still wary however, and he didn't trust his eyes fully. He let his nose do some sniffing. Sure enough, there was something on the other side of the hill that he could smell. Knowing they would do something if he tried to warn the others, he decided to do something brash.

They had been watching the targets ever since their master had told them to, and they knew they had some sort of mission out here on the plains, though what that mission was was still being debated. Suddenly, one of their marks, the black hedgehog, cried out "Chaos Control!" and he was gone in a flash of light.

As they pondered what had happened, Shadow used this opportunity to decapitate one of the five beings with his sword. The others then turned to face the hedgehog, who had somehow teleported behind them. Two of them went at him on either side, but he dodged it with his natural speed, and took a swipe at them both, but missing entirely. One of them charged straight at him, attempting to run him through with the blade. He sidestepped the creature, slashing at its back while it kept going, eventually falling on the ground.

The two tried again, each slashing after the other, Shadow blocking each attempt. However, the other creature had circled behind him, trying to flank him. He realized it seconds before the blow came down and jumped upward, the two's swords cutting straight through the third. Then he made a homing attack and chopped one of the two into pieces, it sreaming as he did so. The last one seemed to have learned from this attack and prepared a defense, only to be stabbed in the back by Lady Percival.

"Nice of you to drop in once it was just clean up duty." said Shadow, who was slipping into sort of a Lancelot-esque tone of voice. Percival looked up with a surprised look on her face, and Shadow realized what he had done. "Sorry, I didn't mean…" She held up her hand, stopping him. "No, don't apologize. You couldn't help that outburst, it just sort of came out. Now, do you mind telling us just what in the hell you were thinking, just running off to fight a group of these foul creatures?"

He replied "These things were tailing us, probably with the intent of sending word back to their master. I couldn't just let them go, and if I warned you, they would have done something that I could not allow." He stoped for a second, waiting for an admonishment that didn't come. He then said "I vaguely remember having seen these things before, but I cannot recall what they are." Percival answered "These things are underworlders, beings that we once fought against. But I thought they had been sent back where they had come from after we had defeated Merlina. How are they out and about now?"

The others shrugged after she had said this, but then heard cries coming from other hills. As they looked, they saw more of the creatures running towards them. Sinbad spoke. "It looks like they had a few friends over there. Everyone, follow me to the ruins. Step lively men or it'll be the devil to pay if we get caught!" He then took off down the hill, with everyone following except Spike, who was hanging onto Santa Fuega's back for dear life.

Meanwhile, back in the forest, they were marching through the brush and trees, always wondering where the sword would be when they found the heart of the forest. They had seen lots of different creatures on their journey, from chipmunks to squirrels to bears and multiple birds. They even saw a couple of Manticores deeper in, but they stayed clear of them as they didn't want any trouble.

As they walked deeper and deeper into the forest however, it became increasingly apparent that something was around them, even if they didn't know what it was. They heard different noises all around them, strange whistlings and whisperings amongst the trees, and even a low moaning sound. The group was understandably getting a bit freaked out by the noises, some wondering what could make such a noise. Pinkie started talking in a low voice. "Maybe it's a spirit wandering through the forest, looking for someponie's body to inhabit, Ooh oooh!"

Twilight shook her head and said "Pinkie, there are no such things in this forest, or anywhere to my knowledge. Still, that doesn't rule out that it could be a spirit of some kind. Maybe some kind of tree- spirit. Hmm, tree spirits why does that sound familiar?" Then, they heard a whisper through the trees. "Get out." it whispered, and all jumped.

"I wasn't the only one of us to hear that, was I?" asked Francis. All the others agreed to having heard something, though Twilight said "It might have just been the wind". It persisted and got louder this time however. "Leave this forest whilst you can." Metal then said "I suggest we stand back to back for the best possible defense." They agreed and got in a circle, each to each others backs.

The voice came one more time, this time saying "You should have heeded our warnings. Now, you will not leave here alive." And then there was more howling and whispering in the winds, when suddenly, they heard a cracking noise. It came from a tree, and when they looked, they saw a wooden being claw its way out of it. It stood like a mobian, but its head was that of a wolf with glowing green eyes, and its claws looked quite sharp. As soon as it had pooped out, several of the other trees spit out beings like it, though one had a pony shaped head, and another had what looked close to the head of a human.

After they had gotten out of their trees, they proceeded to charge the travelers, grabbing the ones they felt were threats to them first. Metal Sonic grabbed his as it started biting at his head, trying to get free of its embrace. The human headed one made its way towards Applejack, and she kicked at it in order to get it off. Tails took a swing at it with his sword, hoping to get it off. Unfortunately for him, his idea worked too well.

It tossed her aside and went at him, its green eyes piercing his soul. He hacked at it, trying desperately to stop its advance, but to no avail. The creature kept coming, and was readying its claws. Unthinkingly, he stabbed it in its chest, and then it began something akin to screaming, spasming and clawing at the sword in its chest before finally falling over. When Miles looked at it, its eyes had dimmed as it reached upwards in an almost begging manner, before collapsing as its eyes went totally black. He could feel bile in his throat as it finally stopped moving, and found that he was totally unable to move from where he was.

Twister had been grabbed and grounded by one of the beasts and he struggled against it. They thrashed about a bit as he attempted to keep its claws from tearing into his side, bit neither could seem to get the upper hand no matter how they twisted or turned. Suddenly, he got a helping hoof from Francis, who kicked it off of Twister. "Thanks man." he said. "Don't mention it, just get going." He then took of into the air, dive kicking at any enemies he could get at.

When Applejack had gotten up, one of the creatures attempted to grab her again, but this time she had readied her legs and gave it a mighty kick into an oak tree, which actually seemed to knock it out. Then another followed after that, and she kicked it as well. This time however, it went to Francis, who kicked it in the stomach, sending it flying until it hit the ground. "Nice job partner!" cried Applejack, to which Francis replied "Don't mention it yet, we've still got a lot of baddies to clear out!" They then ran towards the rest of their attackers.

Twilight had been grabbed earlier by one of these things, but she had since managed to get herself free. She saw a group headed for Metal Sonic, who was currently dealing with the one with a pony head. She charged up a magic blast and let it fly at his would be attackers. It hit all but one of the beings, who while charging, ran straight into the one who Metal had been scrapping with, whom Metal had tossed. They both fell to the ground unconscious. Metal and Twilight gave each other a look before working on clearing the rest of them out.

Pinkie had been hopping all over the place from the start, and none of the creatures could get a hold on her. They kept trying and trying, but it was to no avail. It seemed she could only be caught if she felt like it. Then they managed to get her into a circle of themselves, but then she suddenly produced a giant hammer and spun around a couple of times, knocking the beasts everywhere, including into the path of a flying Twister.

He ran straight into it and crashed into the ground. When he looked up, he felt like he was seeing stars for a second, before a pink ball of energy came by and picked him up. "Get up silly, it's fighting time, not nap time!" She said, and she walked away, leaving behind a very confused Twister. "Oh, by my great aunt Regreta who won the derby, that pink pony's going to be the death of me." he said to himself.

At this point, the creatures seemed to have had enough of this melee, and thus retreated back into the rest of the forest. The heroes, feeling somewhat tired, got together and held a meeting to discuss what was going on. "What the hell were those things anyway?" asked Twister. "We can worry about that after we find some place to talk this out, for now, we need to get away from here before those things come back." answered Metal Sonic. Twilight, who had the map, spoke next. "He's right. According to the map, there's a cliff face with a clearing up ahead, and we had to go there anyway, so if we head up the cliff face we should have an easily defendable position in which to rest a moment."

The shrieking was heard again in the distance, and Applejack remarked "They got their nerve back pretty quick didn't they? I say we get to this cliff and fast!" All agreed and started leaving, except for Francis and Twister, who had noticed Tails lying next to one of those beings, stabbed through the chest. Francis spoke first. "Sir, we have to get going, or else those things will catch us." Tails didn't look up. He only said "I killed him." in a quiet voice, totally oblivious to his surroundings. Francis, after hearing the things getting closer, picked his master up and put him on his back, running for the others. Twister stayed only for a second longer, grabbing the sword out of the creature before running with the others.

On the plains, the runners and flyers had been dodging their pursuers this whole time, running and flying at their top speeds. Shadow ran all around, engaging the enemy as they charged forward. Rainbow Dash was dashing high above them, dodging arrows and running into groups of enemies at top speeds. Fluttershy was flying high, trying to avoid the battle that was taking place below. Sinbad had the rest of his group right behind him, so as to keep them together in case of an enemy attack.

Rainbow was having the time of her life in this situation. Not only was there tons of danger and excitement, but there was plenty of room for daredevil stunts as well. 'Man, if only the Wonderbolts could see me now! They'd let me in for sure!' she thought to herself as she ran fist-long into another enemy. She then flew upwards and came back towards a group, doing her infamous high speed strut in between the enemies, who took swipes as she passed.

Shadow looked up at the rainbow haired girl as she passed overhead, doing a high speed walk through a group of enemies. He shook his head. That girl would get herself killed if she kept up this showboating. Didn't she realize how dangerous this situation was? She could be killed if even one of those things landed a hit on her. Then he saw the group was distracted by her loop de loops and twirls, and ran up, cutting them to pieces. 'At least she can make a good distraction.' he thought to himself.

Sinbad, who had been leading their party towards what he hoped would be a safe place away from these underworlders that had been chasing them, looked out for any incoming enemies. They mostly caught stragglers that were already in front of them, but a couple had gotten behind them as Shadow couldn't be everywhere at once. They dealt with them easily enough, but they kept coming after them. He hoped they would find a place to stop soon, he noticed that Rarity at the very least was getting tired and slowing down.

Then, something happened that he wasn't expecting. A dark colossus with a club jumped in front of the group, swinging at them. Naturally, all scattered away from the blow, but it seemed anxious to destroy them, following blow after blow. Rarity ran towards a group of rocks to their left, Santa Fuega and Spike went off to the right, leaving Sinbad and Lady Percival to fight the monster.

Percival was the first to charge at the beast, using her sword to stab it in the arm as it went for Sinbad. The beast quickly reacted, swinging at her with its club, but it missed her completely, hitting its arm instead. Taking advantage of this, Sinbad popped out his knuckle spikes and attacked. He started at its feet, giving it a toe ache, then he went for its knee, before it finally slapped him away with its hand.

Sinbad was dazed, but this time Percival climbed onto its club arm. It tried and tried to hit her, but to no avail. She ran up its arm, and as soon as she got to the top, she started spinning, a ring of fire flowing around her as she did so. As soon as it covered her from head to toe, she spun forward and sent herself flying into its face. Its hands went straight for its eyes, missing her entirely as she jumped onto its head. Unfortunately, it dropped the club and hit her off, dropping her to the ground below.

At this time, Sinbad got up and launched himself into its gut. It felt that and immediately doubled over, allowing him a chance to get up its arm. As soon as he got to its head, he punched it in its eye, which it didn't like one bit. He then pulled out a knife from his belt, stabbing it in its supposed jugular vein. It screamed in pain, clutching to the vein, which was spitting out black stuff instead of blood, trying to stop the stuff from coming out. After a few seconds, it fell to the ground, lying down still before exploding into a whole bunch of black stuff which dissipated.

Percival looked at him, standing right where seconds before a giant creature had tried to squash him. He certainly had Sir Gawain's style of fighting at any rate; he was always saying they should know how to fight without swords. She got up and said "Thank you for your help in dispatching this monster Sinbad." He shrugged his shoulders, answering "Don't mention it." Suddenly, they heard a scream for help that had come directly from where Rarity had run off to.

Rarity had run towards the rocks, hoping to get away from any fights as soon as possible. She was never really any good at this whole fighting business, and she certainly couldn't take on something that large. So, she got up on top of the rocks, unbeknownst to her that there was a group of underworld swordsmen heading straight for her.

Suddenly, she heard their footsteps next to her position, which was on top of a rock with an almost conveniently placed boulder right next to her. Thinking quickly, she started pushing on the rock, waiting to give the final shove until they right under the boulder. As soon as they were, she heaved sending the rock onto the swordsmen under her. Smiling at her successful trap, she exclaimed "Take that you ruffians!" However, she had missed two of them, and they now knew where she was. She realized this and took off so she could get back to her friends, unfortunately, they managed to cut off her escape route, and she backed herself into a corner. She screamed for help, hoping somepony could reach her in time.

Rainbow Dash heard her friend's cry for help, hoping to reach her before something bad happened. As she flew closer and closer to where the scream came from, she saw the problem. Rarity had backed herself into a corner with two of the swordsmen in front of her. She tried to hit the beasts, but it did no good. They kept coming and coming, until finally, she was against a high rock with no way out. Dash went faster and faster, attempting to get at maximum velocity and get to her friend, but as she got closer, it became painfully obvious that she wouldn't reach her in time.

Time suddenly slowed to a crawl for the next few seconds. Rarity put her hands up, waiting for the inevitable strike. The swordsmen readied their arms, ready to take the life of the white unicorn. Rainbow Dash poured on more speed, but she wouldn't be able to make it even if she were to make a sonic rainboom at that second. There was a glow coming from Rarity's element, and it seemed like it was going to do something. Then, the sword arms came down.

_Skrish_ went the swords, striking against something hard. When Rarity, looked up, she saw that all around her was a shield made of pure diamond. She was awed, 'Where did this come from?' she thought. She looked at the swordsmen, their swords shattered by the shield in front of them. She was beginning to like this shield. "That's right you ruffians, you can't get me while I'm back in here." she said as she stuck her tongue out at them. And as she looked, she could swear she saw a rainbow blur heading towards her.

Rainbow Dash ran into the shield at top speed, leaving a rainbow colored explosion off of Rarity's shield, and sending her bouncing into a rock. The two swordsmen were caught in the explosion, leaving them nowhere to be found. Rarity's shield had a large dent and a few cracks in it, but was otherwise fine. The others, having heard and seen the commotion, came directly towards them.

Rarity put her hand on the shield, and it suddenly dissipated. The glow from her element also disappeared, and she went to help her friend out. "Are you alright dear?" she asked. Rainbow, who was a slight bit dazed, replied "Sure, I'll be fine once the world stops spinning round and round." Fluttershy was the next to come down and said "Oh my, are you alright Rarity?" She replied "I'm fine dear, just a bit shaken up about all of this. I wonder why my element was glowing, or how I managed to make that shield when I've never done anything like that?"

When the others had gotten there, Rarity told them what had happened to her and Dash. After that, Shadow said to them "I think we should go now, before the rest of these swordsmen catch up to us." Sinbad replied "That is an excellent idea friend. Quickly, let us continue." Suddenly, an arrow whizzed past his head, and Rarity cried out in pain.

Rarity had been hit in the shoulder by an arrow, and the pain was excruciating. The others put her down on the grass, and she started panicking. "Please, pull this Celestia forsaken arrow out of my shoulder!" she cried. Spike, who was panicking as well, attempted to pull it out, but Fluttershy stopped him. "Don't do that! That arrow is currently holding Rarity's blood mostly in place. We can't pull it out until we have something to keep the bleeding in check." Spike immediately let go of the arrow immediately.

Rainbow Dash rooted through the packs, looking for a medical pack. Finding one, she grabbed it and gave it to Fluttershy. She pulled out some rags and a saline solution for cleaning the wound. She first tied a rag up higher on her shoulder, and after doing that, she took hold of the arrow. She then said "Spike, get something for Rarity to bite on." He looked around and grabbed some of the rags. Quickly he said "Put this in your mouth." She opened her mouth, and when Spike put in the rag, she bit down hard.

Fluttershy then said "Alright, sorry Rarity, but this will hurt a bit." and then she pulled the arrow out. There was a muffled scream of pain from Rarity, for a few moments, before she finally stopped. She then spit out the rags and said "A bit?! You and I have very different ideas of the words 'a bit' Fluttershy!" She somewhat was taken aback by her friends loud words, but soon retorted "I'm sorry, but I had to do it in order to get you feeling better. Now I'm going to have to clean the wound." She took the bottle of saline and opened it, pouring some of the contents into the open wound. Rarity hissed for a second. Fluttershy then took a rag and cleaned it out. After cleaning the wound she found a wrap, and tied it around her shoulder.

"She should be good to get up now." said Fluttershy. The others pulled her onto her feet. She wobbled a bit before standing up on her own feet. 'Take it easy Rarity." said Spike. "We don't want you getting hurt again." She looked at the little dragon who was helping support her and said "Thanks Spikey, I hope I don't get hurt either. That was some experience." She said it with a weak sounding voice, a slight chuckle escaping her lips.

Suddenly, they heard the swordsmen's footsteps heading towards them. Apparently they had come up while they had been patching up Rarity. Rainbow flew up to see where the enemy was, and after a quick second of looking, a volley of arrows sent her back down. "We're surrounded! How are we going to get out of this mess?" she screamed. Shadow lifted his sword up and said "We're going to fight our way out, that's what. Everyone get into a circle, those who can't fight stay in the middle. When we see an opening, we move out."

They got into their circle, Rarity Spike and Fluttershy in the middle, everyone else readying themselves for battle. The swordsmen got closer and closer, their war cries getting louder and louder as they readied to charge their quarry. Suddenly, a hole opened up in the ground and swallowed them up, quickly closing afterward.

After this had happened, Dash called out "Is everypony in one piece?" Fluttershy squeaked "I'm fine." Shadow called "No complaints here." Sinbad replied "Dusty and confused, but otherwise fine." Percival said "Fuega and I are both fine." Spike said "I've got an aching back from you landing on top of me, but that's about it." Rarity burst into a fit. "Fine? FINE?! I've been trapped, shot at, put into pain and thrown into the dirt, and you want to know if I'm fine? I honestly do not know how this situation could get any worse!"

After a second, Rarity realized how it was worse already. As she looked out, she saw large glowing eyes in the darkness. She also heard breathing, grumbling and growling coming from all around them. The others seemed to realize this too, and got up as fast as they could. "You just had to open your big mouth, didn't you?" asked Sinbad as the things began to get closer to their group, seemingly ready to pounce on them…


	9. Chapter 9: A Journey Begins pt 2

As the darkness faded in the caverns, they got a good look at the things that surrounded them. They were beings with dog like faces, though their eyes were much bigger than most dogs. Their fore limbs were also large and lanky, sticking in front of their bodies and almost on the ground. Some of them held spears; others held pickaxes and even swords.

"Diamond Dogs!" cried Rarity. "Whatever you curs want with us, we will have no part in it. I suggest you let us go immediately, before my friends show you the meaning of unnecessary roughness." At this, one of the dogs, a German shepherd by the looks of him, said "Well how do you like that fellas, save peoples bacons and let them into your home, and they threaten to kick us out! That's gratitude for ya." He got a couple of chuckles from his fellows for his comment.

He then walked up to the group and said "I'd lower your weapons if I were you, you're among friends, or soon to be friends here." He then extended his paw. "Name's Rex and it's a pleasure to save your asses." Sinbad grabbed his hand. "It was a pleasure to have our asses saved. By the by, what's a diamond dog?"

Before Rex could answer the question, Fluttershy began talking to them, though it was hard to hear her even with the echo in the cave. "Um, excuse me Mr. Rex, but, uh, see, my friend here was hit with an arrow, and, uh, I was hoping you might, uh, have something to help her?" Rex sniffed the air, and then made his way towards the unicorn. She slightly backed away, but he stopped after a few steps.

He then made a whistling sound and said "Hey Bernie, get over here!" Then, a large dog came out of the shadows, a St. Bernard by the looks of him, and said in a low deep voice "What is it boss?" Rex replied "Bernie, take this unicorn and give her to Mr. Smartypants back in camp. He'll know what to do." With a simple nod of his head, the huge dog went and picked up Rarity, who was somewhat struggling to get away. Fluttershy and Spike followed after her, if only to make sure that it wasn't a trick of some kind.

Rex then made a gesture for the others to follow him. As they did so, he began talking again. "In answer to your question friend, the Diamond Dogs are a group of scoundrels and thieves, looking out only for themselves and their greedy needs. Of course, the group isn't always like that. I was one of them for a time, and though we did go looking for a lot of diamonds and other such valuable rock, not once did any of us ever have to engage in illegal activity, at least, before those imbeciles Fido, Rover, and Spot murdered the old man and took over. After that, they wanted me to go and murder a noble, and I just couldn't do it. So I left instead, and formed my own group. We're mostly just travelers, but we also do a bit of digging for diamonds and such."

Sinbad had to say, this guy was sounding a little bit shady to him, but he certainly understood the urge to leave and do your own thing. He then asked "So, why did you save our group anyway? Surely you must have a reason for all of this." He chuckled and said "Well, I would be lying if I said I did it purely out of the goodness of my heart. See, a couple of our tunnels became suddenly disjointed a couple of days ago, and we had to dig new tunnels in order to get through our own camp, so understandably, I want some answers. Some of our up top scouts saw your group running from some of those swordsmen that have been plaguing this plain for a while, and we figures you'd have some answers. So, if you don't mind, I'd like your answers please."

Rarity didn't know how she could have gotten such rotten luck. Today was not her day at all. She was beginning to wonder whether or not she should worry about whether a bolt of lightning would come down from the sky and strike her where she stood. Then, they reached their apparent destination, a camp in the middle of multiple mineshafts. There were hundreds of tents sprawled about, and each it seemed had some form of resident in it, from gruff and tough looking men and women, to even entire families. The camp was teeming with life, and she couldn't look without seeing someone doing something.

Suddenly, they came upon a rather large tent, and inside she swore she could hear somepony with a Hoofington accent. "Let's see, where did I put those confounded sun goggles? Did I leave them over here? No, don't be stupid, you never put things over there. Perhaps over, no, no, no! Why can't I find a single thing in this place?"

Bernie said "Hey Dawn, the boss wanted me to give this to ya." The being who had spoken earlier popped his head out of the tent and saw Bernie carrying Rarity. He was a maroon unicorn with a yellowish brown mane that was a bit unkempt; he also sported a goatee on his chin. He then said "Ah. Thank you Bernard. Please set the lady down, I'm sure she'd prefer to be standing on her own hooves." Bernard set her down, and after she wobbled a bit, she was standing on her hooves. "Please, come in." he said to her with a waving motion from his hand. After taking a breath, she entered the tent.

As she looked around his tent, she could see things from all over the known world. A mask from Zecora's home, a rug from the Sodan, and a bottle of wine from Prance were what stood out the most to her, though there were other things as well. He then stated "Plant yourself on the bed please. I'll have to look at your wound there." She took a look at him and said "How did you know about my wound?" His answer was "They have only brought their sick and wounded to my tent, and seeing as you have that wrap around your shoulder, I seriously doubt that you have a medical problem."

She sat down on the bed and he quickly unwrapped her wrap. He then seemed slightly amazed by what he saw, asking "Did you do this yourself?" She answered "No, my friend Fluttershy cleaned my wounds. Why do you ask, Mr.? " He replied "No, introductions can come later. As for why I asked, you should really thank your friend, she really knows her stuff when it comes to wounds. Though, I assume she's not a unicorn of any kind given the fact she didn't mend your shoulder when she had the chance, Still, that's something that shall be quickly remedied."

He then concentrated, a gold aura surrounding his horn, then his hands. He then waved his hand over her shoulder, and the wound mended itself. She could still feel some pain, and her shoulder also felt a bit weird, but her arm was completely healed. She then looked at the unicorn, who held his head and then shook, as if trying to keep dizziness away from it.

She said "Oh, thank you kind sir! How can I ever repay you?" He took a look at her with his hazel eyes and said "No charge milady, though I believe now may be a good time to introduce ourselves. My name is Dawn Breaker. What is yours?" She then did a double take. "Wait, did you just say that you are **SIR** Dawn Breaker, Celestia's knighted explorer?" He somewhat chuckled and said "I suppose you've heard of me then. I'm no one special really. I'm just a pony who did something unusual and got a near meaningless title for it. Though I am an explorer, yes. Now, who are you?"

She took a look at herself before saying "Oh, I'm sorry, how terribly unladylike of me. I am Rarity, a dressmaker and the Element of Generosity, and I am very pleased to meet a gentleman of such status and, wait! Did you say that you have a meaningless title? Whatever do you mean by that?"

He shook his head. "I say that because my knighthood is totally honorary. Unlike Celestia's knights back in the castle, I do not have to defend Equestria in order to keep my title. My title is just something that the nobles use to keep themselves above the common folk. If you ask me, none of these 'nobles' are any more so than most other ponies. Take you for instance, you aren't a noble of any kind, yet you hold yourself to their standards of interaction. Why? Their standards should not have to be met by one of such obvious grace and form as yourself." She blushed at that remark.

"My point is, nopony is more noble than anypony else. Don't try to become like them, you can be so much better if you just try on your own." He then looked a bit flustered and said in a lower voice "Sorry about the rant, I just don't like being called sir. Now, how's about we get back to your friends then?" He walked out of the tent, and a slightly thoughtful Rarity followed him.

They had managed to reach the cave with no resistance from the creatures, and they could hear nothing coming towards their cave at the moment. However, they still sat in fear of those things coming back at them. When they had finally found a place to sit in the cave, Twister was the first to ask a question. "Okay, so what in the hell were those things?"

Twilight shook her head. "I'm not entirely sure. They looked something like those Timberwolves that attacked Ponyville a while back, but they were much bigger than that. To be honest, I'm not even sure if they are from our universe. Sonic, have you heard of anything like this back in your home?" He shook his head. "Negative, however, I do not have access to all of my information due to the satellites being down. It could be something that I do not know of."

Pinkie interjected, crying "Ooh, maybe they're some kind of forest spirits, meant to protect the inner sanctums of the forest from being raided and destroyed." Twilight sort of blinked before answering "Okay, that does seem plausible, but spirits like these ones seem to be are only usually formed in places of great tragedies, like the sacking of Roam or the betrayal of Caesar, and nothing like that ever happened here to my knowledge."

Applejack spoke next. "Ah don't really think that matters in this case Twiley. What they are is not what we're here for; we're here for a magic sword, and that's all. I say we find our way to wherever the hay this thing is, and then we hightail it back to Ponyville." The others agreed and Twilight pulled out the map, wondering if she could find some landmark near the middle of the forest.

Metal Sonic saw Francis and Twister conversing and listened in. Francis was speaking when he heard "I've tried a few things, but he's still not talking to me. I wonder what I could say to get him out of this state?" Twister spoke. "Listen, he's obviously in shock about killing that, thing. I've seen it happen before with a couple of other guards and ponies, hell, I killed one of those changelings that attacked Canterlot back during the royal wedding and only just stopped going to the psychologists office a week ago. I think somepony should talk to him." Metal Sonic then said "I will talk to our fox friend; you two may do what you wish." He then walked to Tails before they could say anything.

The fox was sitting in front of the cave, staring into the distance. He sat next to the fox, who seemed oblivious to his surroundings. "I understand that you killed someone today." The fox had no response to that, still staring out into space. "So that you know, I am not here to tell you that you shouldn't kill. I am here to say that you should not dwell on what you did." He paused for a second, and the fox turned his head around to look at Sonic.

"Trust me, I have unfortunately killed many beings in my life, and there is not one that I do not regret. However, staying focused on those that you have killed will lead to you being distracted, which can lead to your friends and allies' demise. Do not be ashamed of what you did, for your actions saved a friend, and that is a noble thing indeed. I am not asking that you kill again, only that you stay focused and knock any foes you might encounter to the side. Also, do not be afraid to talk to others about your problems, especially not in this group. We are all your friends here, and we want to know your problems so we can help you get over them."

Tails then turned to him and asked "Do the images that you get, the ones of the dead body on the ground, do they go away?" Metal Sonic then replied "Those will go away over time. How much time depends much upon the person though. Are you ready to go out and protect your friends?" Tails thought for a second before nodding his head. "Excellent. Now, I'm sure Francis wants to talk to you, and I think that it'd be good for you, so go talk to him." Tails got of the seat and walked towards Francis.

Twilight was still looking over the map when she saw something truly strange. The Castle of the Pony Sisters had moved right next to the heart of the forest, which seemed to be a giant oak by the looks of it. How could it have shifted its position all the way over there? Even accounting for the inter-dimensional shifts, it still seemed highly improbable that it would move that far away from its original position. Still, it was a place to start at any rate.

"Hey Sonic!" she called. "What is it Twilight?" asked the robot. "I think I know where we have to go." He walked closer to her and asked "Where might that be?" She pulled out the map and said "You could call it a guess, but I'm thinking it's over here, in this castle in the middle of the forest." Metal Sonic seemed to contemplate this before saying "Alright everyone, we have our destination. We will be heading out after you all take a minute to eat something."

After lunch was over, they gathered up their stuff and began to head out. Twister asked Tails "Say, what do you want me to do about this?" He pulled out Tails' sword and put it in front of him. Tails, after looking at the sword for a second, said "You can keep it. I don't want it right now." Twister shrugged and fastened it to his belt, wondering just how well he'd be able to use this thing.

Twilight was in the front of the group, the rest followed behind her with Metal Sonic and Twister Tail at the very back, protecting the rear in case of any more attacks from those things. And thus they set off for the castle, hoping that the sword was there.

After Sinbad had finished explaining the situation to Rex, the dog just pondered all that had been said to him. Finally he said "Well, that sounds like a whole lot of trouble for someone to go through, assuming that someone was behind it like that one lady said. Not to mention this whole 'other worlds' thing. My head hurts just trying to think about it."

Sinbad nodded his head and said "So you see our predicament then. We have to get back up top and get to a large set of ruins. You wouldn't mind if we left, would you?" Rex shook his head. "No, of course not, but I would ask you to wait until we get a report from my scouts up top about those black creatures. I mean, you don't want those things back on your tail, am I correct?" Shadow nodded towards their host.

Rarity had rejoined them during their retelling of the events that had led to this particular predicament. She had also brought along Fluttershy, Spike, and a new fellow by the name of Dawn Breaker, who was absolutely fascinated by all this talk about 'a merging of other worlds', remarking "I should really get back out there, it would be a nice series of entries into my journal."

Rarity then asked him "So, why did you join this group of dogs?" He sat back and answered "Well, as you know, I've been an explorer for my whole life, and I've always had fascinations to see cultures other than our own in Equestria and beyond, so I've been going through each culture, from the griffins to the dogs and some even stranger beings than that. My latest stop was to see the culture of dogs and how their society works, and I have to say I was quite surprised."

"How so?" asked Percival. "Well milady, it turns out that dog society is based on mostly loyalty. The most loyal and trusted dogs get positions of great honor, while those who are not stay down at the bottom of the chain, as it were. However, we are with an entirely different group of dogs." Fluttershy asked a question now "Oh, um, what do you mean by that?"

Breaker thought for a second before answering her. "These particular dogs were born underground. See, a long time ago, a group of dogs betrayed their ruler, and when their insurrection was quashed they were sent to live underground for the rest of their lives. Their children were forced to stay underground as well, and after a few generations, they evolved into what most ponies know as the Diamond Dog. They are built with underground living in mind, with large eyes to see in the dark and large paws with which to dig into the ground, as you can see with the help of my lovely assistant." He spoke the last part sarcastically and then gestured at Rex, who at this point had taken up a models pose.

"Wow, that is honestly one of the harshest things I've ever heard." said Fluttershy. Sinbad snickered and replied "Are you kidding? I've heard of things a thousand times worse than that. Honestly, they got off easy for their treason." Rarity then asked "So, if you aren't The Diamond Dogs, then what exactly are you?"

Rex was the one to answer that question. "The Diamond Dogs that you speak of have always been a group of liars, thieves, scoundrels and vagabonds, almost all of them undergrounders like me and my crew. They weren't always like this particular group now though. Sometimes they were worse, sometimes better. But, at any rate, this group is totally separate from those dudes. We decided to tale our natural digging talents on the road and took to looking for crystals, mushrooms, anything of significant value to those up above us. We're traders, you see. The main problem, however, is that we've only been able to deal at night due to our eyes only being able to see at that time. That is where our esteemed colleague comes in." He was gesturing towards Dawn Breaker.

"Yes, see, in exchange for details about the lives of underground dogs, I've been making these." He said, pulling out a pair of tinted goggles as he did so. "By the by Rex, I do wish you would tell your men to stop making my sun goggles into masks. Those things that your men are making are just as likely to make your prospective buyers run as trade with you." Rex shrugged. "I can tell 'em Smartypants, but I doubt that they'll listen to me. By the way, very soon we'll be able to make these things ourselves, and I think we've told you all you need to know already, so very soon you may bugger off and do whatever else."

Dawn just shrugged as he said "That's fine by me. I wanted to go off and find out about other things anyway. As a matter of fact, I did want to find out more about these 'Elements of Harmony' I've been hearing so much about in the past few years. Objects of power supposedly only activatable when the bearers have one goal in mind? Count me in!" Rarity looked at the so called explorer, and she saw an almost child like excitement in his figure and eyes. He really did have a passion in learning, not unlike her friend Twilight. Still, she wondered why he so thoroughly disliked the noble class. What was his reasoning? These were questions that she would have to ask later.

Shadow decided that now was the time to talk to Rainbow Dash about her rashness earlier. "Miss Dash, could I have a word with you?" She nodded and he gestured her to walk with him. As they walked forward, she asked "Okay chief, whatcha wanna talk about?" He looked forward as he said "I was going to speak to you about your conduct against the underworld soldiers." Rainbow ignored his tone and said "Oh yeah, that was awesome, wasn't it?"

Shadow shook his head. "Reckless was the word I was going to use. You cannot pull stunts like that on an active battlefield, the only purpose it served was getting you noticed by the enemy, and that can lead to trouble or worse fast." Rainbow was flabbergasted. "What?! C'mon, those slow pokes never would have caught up to me. I was too fast for them." Shadow then looked directly at her. "Oh yes? What about your friend Rarity?"

Now Rainbow was slightly confused. "What do you mean by that? Do you mean I would intentionally hurt my friends? You can just take that thought and shove it where the sun don't shine. I would never hurt my friends in any way, shape or form." Shadow then said "Oh really? Who do you think the archer that hit her was aiming for? You cannot think he was aiming for anyone but you, because those rocks were high enough that no archer should have been able to see us. You however, made a gigantic colorful explosion by ramming into her shield, and they saw your rainbow mane. One of them must have put two and two together and figured they might hit you, so in a way, your friends injury is your fault."

Dash's heart had been sinking into her stomach throughout his admonition, her realizing that his logic was undeniable. She looked down at the ground, unable to look at the hedgehog any longer. Shadow then said "You'd best start thinking about your friends the next time you want to do something stupid like draw attention to yourself." And then he walked off, leaving Rainbow Dash sitting on a rock, thinking to herself.

Sinbad had, unbeknownst to Shadow or Dash, followed them to see just what he had wanted to say. Needless to say, he thought that Shadow's deconstruction of the girl was a bit harsh, though he did agree that she had been a bit reckless. And he could see she needed someone to be friendly right about now. So, sucking in a breath of air, he walked over to the pegasus, thinking of what he needed to say.

"Hello there." Said a voice she knew to belong to Sinbad. "What do you want? Do you want to tell me that I'm hurting my friends too? Well go on ahead, I can take it." She said this with a somewhat sob in her voice, and even a slight tear in her eye. "I'm not here to scold you Ms. Dash, I'm just here to help. Shadow was a bit hard on you, I'll admit, but I know people enough to understand why he said what he said." She looked up at him, water in her magenta eyes, and asked "And why is that huh? Why would he say that I would do something like this, if he knew I didn't know I was hurting my friends?"

"That's just it. He knew you didn't think of that, and he wants you to improve. He knows that you feel much loyalty towards your friends, and he also knows you'd do just about anything to make sure they are safe. He talked a little too harshly, but I know why that is. It's because of how his life has turned out. Some horrible things must have happened to him to get him to be like that."

"And just how do you know that?" asked Dash. "Trust me, I knew a guy like him once. As a matter of fact, if it weren't for him, I wouldn't be this shining and, quite frankly, stunning example of a man that I am today!" he said, flexing his muscles for a little bit of emphasis. Dash laughed in spite of herself, seeing the ridiculousness of the pose and hearing his choice of words. "See, I always know how to get a gal smiling again. Anyway, he's just telling you this because deep down, he cares about all of us, and he'd hate to see us dead before our respective times. Besides, you could stand to do a little bit of thinking before you act. It can lead to a whole lot of great things, and gives less chance of you hurting your friends. Now, you ready to go kick some ass?"

They rejoined their friends, who had been waiting for a message for quite a while now. Fluttershy looked worried, so Dash decided to talk to her about it. "Hey Fluttershy, is anything wrong?" Fluttershy turned towards her old friend and said "Oh, uh, no, nothing's wrong Dash, I just, um, I'm a little worried for my animals. I haven't taken care of them ever since we went after Discord, and I don't know who's taking care of them. I didn't plan on being gone for so long and, well, I just hope they're okay." Rainbow put a hand on her slightly trembling shoulder. "Hey, don't worry about it, those animals are fine, I'm sure of it. Besides, you won't be gone much longer at any rate. As soon as we get those swords, you'll be back in Ponyville with them, no sweat."

Not seconds later, one of the dogs came back with a message. Rex read the message and then said "Alright, it looks like there's a passage that you can take that will get you out of visible range of the underworlders so you can get that sword of yours. Just take that passage to the left until you get stopped by the guard, and then tell him Rex sent you." Rarity said "On behalf of our group and myself, we thank you for your hospitality Mr. Rex. Oh, and If you should come into the vicinity of Ponyville, do come to my boutique. I'm always looking for gems and would pay you quite handsomely for some." He nodded his head and said "Thank you kindly ma'am."

Dawn Breaker then asked "Wait, before you go, do you know where I can find the Elements of Harmony?" Rarity smiled and said "Of course kind sir. They're in Ponyville." Dawn then thought about it for a second, and then he grinned widely. 'Oh, this is going to be fun!' he thought to himself. Then, after they had said their goodbyes, the company once again set forth, hoping that their luck had changed.

The walk through the forest had been thankfully uneventful, the creatures deigning to stay away from the group, most likely thinking twice about attacking them. Though Metal Sonic had to wonder why they were letting them get so far in their territory. Perhaps they were gathering reinforcements with which to attack and swarm them. Or perhaps they were setting up a trap, trying to make sure that they stayed on the path directly towards it. There was no way to tell for sure at the moment, but if things seemed the least bit off, he was going to call foul then and there.

His thermal imaging could see cold spots where the things were, and there were around thirty of them if he was counting right. And there seemed to be even more in front of the group, and he began to tell the others. He passed the word to the others, and they started looking around themselves, being wary of yet another ambush. Then, as they neared the deepest woods, there were the wails and cries in front of them. Metal Sonic looked around, and he saw that the number of the creatures had doubled, but they were having something akin to a scuffle up ahead. The others had joined their struggle and were now duking it out between themselves.

When Sonic had told his compatriots of what he thought was happening, they immediately decided to go ahead and see what was happening up in front of them. Twister Tail scouted ahead and saw several versions of the tree creatures fighting. On the one side were the ones they had been fighting, but on the other side were ones that looked more tree-esque. One of them looked like it had a great big mossy beard on its face, and the others had all different kinds of foliage clinging to their frames, like they were actually trees.

These beings fought for a minute, before the ones that actually looked like trees came out on top, sending the other things reeling. One that looked like a willow cried out "Do not return hither, lest you should suffer the same defeat again." The one with a beard then scolded him "Do not speak like that brother, after all, they were not so unlike us long ago." He then turned towards where Twister was standing and said "Come out my young pegasus friend. You and your friends shall not be harmed here."

Twister debated actually going out into the clearing. He said "Okay, you've got me, but what about these friends you speak of? I didn't come in here with any…" The bearded one interrupted him, saying "You needn't lie to us young one, we have known your number ever since you entered our forest sanctum. Your friends may come out, my brothers and I will not harm you like they did."

Twister looked behind himself, and saw that the others had, after a few seconds, decided to trust the strange tree man. He looked back at the bearded one, whose beard seemed to have a small smile underneath it. "It was good that you listened to me, young ones. I am sure that you have many questions, but I would ask that you follow me for the time being, I will take you someplace safe, where we may discuss your current situation. Follow me please." He then started walking further into the trees, the group following after them, hoping to get some answers soon.

After a few minutes, they found themselves in front of a group of trees that seemed to make a cathedral arch, with a pine in the very back of the place that was behind a small pool of water. The sunlight shone into the pool giving it a shimmery look about it. It was a terribly beautiful display in all, and most of the team marveled at the spectacular sight in front of them, with the exception of Metal Sonic, who was keeping an eye out for his teammates.

The bearded one turned around in front of them and declared "Welcome to the inner sanctum friends. Let us get to your questions shall we?" Twilight, after a moment of looking at the scenery, nodded and asked "Okay, who or what exactly are you?" The tree man had a glint of sadness in his as he told her the answer.

"We are the spirits of the forest you know as Everfree, but we were not always like this. We were ponies once, living free and in a sparsely forested area, long before the reigns of either Celestia or Discord had started, in the days of the Roaman Empire. Our village was always on the outskirts of the empire, but there was a peace for a long time, until the death of Emperor Octavus. Then, the griffons came and we were slaughtered. Our men put up as good a fight as we could, but it was of no avail. They came and slaughtered us, and there was nothing we could do to stop it." His eyes looked impossibly old, and all there could feel the sadness radiating off of him.

Twilight then said "I'm sorry that this happened to you and your people, no one should have to have that happen to them." He nodded in agreement. Then she asked "Wait, I've heard of a whole lot of things that can create spirits, but if you're the souls of dead ponies, you shouldn't have taken on the forms of trees. Why did that happen?" The tree man looked at them all and said "If I'm honest, I believe that our condition was due to a mage tampering with something, something that has been here for eons, something like…" he trailed off there, not knowing exactly what to say.

It was then that Twilight felt it, a wave of energy coming from the heart of the forest. It was like a dark energy that came from another world, and she couldn't explain it, but it was like it came from… "The Underworld? Some idiot tore open a rift into purgatory?! Why would anypony do that?" The tree man seemed to smile under his beard.

"You are very astute young one; I can tell that you will be a great mage someday. Yes, it seems that someone had wanted to use the arcane arts, and the connection to the place of resting souls was opened wide. These souls being sucked out of their natural home, along with the battle, must have caused our souls to seek refuge in the nearest place available, that being the then growing forest. For eons, we have watched ponykind as it has grown and changed, from Discord's era of chaos, to the return to harmony by the Alicorn sisters Celestia and Luna. Always though, our forest has run as if it was part of another world, and that is because of the spirit magic surrounding this place. Long have my brothers and I hoped for release from this fate of ours, but we cannot find a way that does not lead out of this forest."

Twilight then said "Don't worry, if there's anything we can do to release you and your brothers, we will do it." She said it with an almost brutal sincerity in her voice, and the tree man nodded, knowing she was telling the truth. Metal Sonic then stated "I have a query. What are those things that attacked us earlier?"

The tree man's eyes went sad again, and then he said "Those that you fought are our brothers as well. See, this recent magical fusion of two worlds caused many of the tree folk to go insane. Even before this we had some more feral members that were turned into wolves, what I believe you call Timberwolves, but these things that now roam and attack have gone insane, and I fear that the only solution might be to kill them all. We still remain hopeful however, that a different solution will come to fruition. Now, may I inquire as to why you have travelled this deep into the forest?"

Metal Sonic answered him. "We are seeking a mystical sword in the heart of the forest, however, we saw that an ancient castle relocated itself here, and we were hoping that it would be found inside." The tree man then said "Ah, the Castle of the Ancients. It has indeed moved as you said, and another forest has moved into ours. There is much that I do not understand, but I will see to it that you reach your destination safe." He then turned to the others and said "Brothers, I wish one of you to show our young friends to the castle. Which of you is willing to do this?"

None made a move except for one that's skin seemed to be made of oak. "I will brother. Come, follow me." He then moved out towards the forest with the others following him. As soon as they got out of the enclave, Twilight then asked "So, what are your people called?" The oak shook his head. "We have not had names in many years. As to what you call us, we do not know nor care."

Pinkie then interjected. "Ooh! Maybe we should call you guys Dryads, after the tree spirits of ancient myth!" Twister opened his mouth a couple of times, trying to say something, but he could only let sounds come out of his mouth before Twilight said "Pinkie, that is actually ingenious. I think that that is what we shall call you after all." The oak shrugged, obviously not caring.

Twister then turned to Applejack. "How is it that she is so smart and yet so, so…" he tried to think of the word, but Applejack then said "Partner, you'd best just quit while y'all is ahead. Ya think too hard about what ta say about Pinkie Pie and yer head's likely to explode. None of us is likely to get an answer to the mystery that is her." She then walked of before Twister said "Zany! That's what I wanted to say, she's zany. Why do you think that is?" Before Applejack could answer, the oak said "Quiet, all of you. We need to be as quiet as possible so as not to alert them to our presence, unless of course you would prefer to be dead." After that, they all stayed silent, hoping to pass through the forest without further delay.

Sinbad lead his team across the plain, and as they neared their objective their hearts were gladdened that the first leg of their journey was almost over, especially the ponies. They each knew that it would not be an easy task ahead of them afterwards, but they were glad that they could soon rest. As they cleared a hill, Sinbad saw the place that he had told them the swords should be found and he pointed it out.

The ponies and Spike cheered for joy, knowing that they would soon have this day come to an end. Rainbow Dash in particular looked as if she was ready to take on an army herself, saying "Let me fly up to those ruins, I bet I'd find that sword in ten seconds flat!" Shadow interjected "While I'm sure you could you shouldn't head up the mountain alone. Who knows what dangers lie inside?" Dash waved her and said "Pfft. I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. I'll just head up there myself." With that, she took to the sky to reach the top of the mountain that had ruins on it.

Fluttershy then said "Oh dear. Um, Rainbow Dash, wait for me!" and she took of towards her friend. Shadow shook his head and muttered "That foolish girl's going to get herself killed." He then turned to Sinbad and said "I'm going to rush up the mountain at full speed so you'll be a bit far behind me, but try to get up there as fast as possible." He then took off at top speed, reaching the mountain's bottom in seconds. The others then ran as fast as they could, hoping to catch up to their speeding friends.

As Rainbow reached the mountain's top, she took a look around to see if she could find the swords, and sure enough she saw two curved blades sticking out of the ground. As she went to grab them however, a raspy voice came from behind her. "It was you who escaped my master's men. You will not have that privilege again." She whipped around and saw a black hooded being with no face. It held a sword and swung the blunt end into her, knocking her aside. Then it lifted its arms, about to plunge the sword into her side, when she rolled away before it made contact with the ground.

She then got onto her hooves and launched herself upwards, but the thing jumped up and grabbed her leg, tossing her to the ground and knocking her unconscious as it did so. It then tried to stab her once again, but then Fluttershy knocked into its side. "You leave my friend alone you big bully!" she said, managing to get the beast's attention. It then shrieked at her, and she grew terrified, so much so that she couldn't move an inch. It ran towards her and she stared at it, petrified of what was about to happen. It began its swing…

Shadow had climbed up the mountain to its top through the path that lead to it, and when he was there he saw the thing charging at Fluttershy, and for a split second all time slowed to a crawl. His heart skipped a beat as he saw the blade start coming down, and he sprung forward at incredible speed, his sword stretched to meet the creatures'…

Shadow managed to get in front of the creature's sword, blocking it and sending the creature flying backwards. Fluttershy looked at him as he stood by her side, blood red eyes meeting sky blue. "Are you alright Fluttershy?" he asked. She gulped and said "I'm fine Shadow, thanks for rescuing me." He then answered "Think nothing of it, just get Rainbow Dash out of the path of this fight." She nodded and went to her downed friend.

The thing shrieked and charged yet again, swiping at Shadow with all its might, though unable to break through his block. Shadow swiped at the creature, who blocked his strike. It then tried a sweeping offensive, chaining its sword attacks in order to get through Shadow's blocking. Shadow blocked each and every strike, counter attacking when it's arms had swung wide to it's left. The creature then turned into a shadow as the blade cut through the dark mist, and it moved back to a different position.

When it had reconstituted itself, Shadow ran forward, pressing his attack savagely. The creature blocked a few shots, dodged some others, but Shadow managed to knock the sword out of its hands. He raised his sword, preparing to deliver the final blow, when the thing shrieked while he was in front of it. Shadow held his ears after having dropped his sword, the pain was excruciating. The thing then attempted to pick up his sword, but found that it was stuck to the ground, and he was unable to move it. Shadow, seeing his opportunity, ran forward and punched it in the face. It staggered backwards before turning into its shadow form, heading back to where its sword was. Taking this small break, he picked up his sword, and he wondered just why it would stick to the ground like that when that creature tried to pick it up before. 'There'll be time to wonder about that later, you have a job to do.' he thought to himself. The creature brought its sword up and charged at Shadow, who charged as well.

Fluttershy had been tending to the unconscious Dash ever since the fight had started. She had noted that the only mark on her friend had been a bruise on her head. Her head would feel like it was splitting apart, but other than that she would be perfectly fine. The battle was raging behind her, and it was getting more ferocious by the second. She hoped Shadow would be okay, she didn't want to see him hurt at all. He had gone through too much in her opinion.

When Rainbow Dash awoke, her head felt like it was being torn apart. She hissed and held her head, then Fluttershy came over to her and said "Take it easy Dash; you're going to be alright." "She looked at her friend and asked "What happened to my head Fluttershy?" She replied "You were thrown onto a rock by that wraith, and then Shadow started fighting it while I pulled you away." She then gritted her teeth as she said "Oh yeah, that's right. Well if you don't mind, I'm going to give that wraith a piece of my mind!" She tried to get up, but was pushed down by Fluttershy. "Sorry, but you're not going anywhere with a bump like that. You may have had a concussion, and I'd never forgive myself if you got hurt while I was looking out for you." Rainbow sighed. She knew she'd never be able to convince her friend otherwise. She just hoped she wasn't missing the fight of a life time.

Shadow had been working out the beast's pattern as he fought it. It seemed that whenever he tried to slice it, it turned into a shadow and floated to another position further away from him. It was a slow enough float to see where it was going, so it could not sneak up behind him. He formulated a plan that would be enough to destroy it, and then put it into action.

He initiated a flurry of attacks against the being, who deflected a few of them. He then managed to get through its defenses, but it still managed to shift to it other form. He then saw where it was going to land and jumped into the air, homing onto the thing with his sword out in front of him. He spun as he did so, and managed to catch it while it was formatting into its solid state. It fell to the ground, shrieking in pain as it did so. Black blood adorned Shadow's sword and he pointed it at the creature.

The creature, looking at the sword, chuckled and said "You may have defeated me, but the dark one knows about you, and he will never stop hunting you till your demise." He then grabbed a knife and stuck it to his neck. "All hail the Black Knight!" he said before slitting his own throat. Shadow looked on as the being's body disappeared, fading into black nothingness.

As the others got up the hill, they found Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, the latter of which had a bump on her head, and asked what had happened. Fluttershy told them the story, at which point Percival, Santa Fuega and Sinbad rushed forward to find Shadow bending over in the grass, wiping off his sword. Sinbad asked "Shadow, what happened to that wraith?" He merely replied "He's dead. Your swords are over there." He nodded, went over to them, and picked them up. He then got something of a flashback.

_A young squire sat alone on the rock, looking down on the plains below him. Was he sure that this was what he wanted? I mean, knighthood was a pretty big deal, was he sure that he could handle all that responsibility? Was there something else that he wanted to do? As he looked down, he saw a purple cat and a black and red hedgehog practicing on the field, fighting and laughing. He smiled as he knew that those two were close friends from before he had met them, and he then remembered why he wanted to be a knight in the first place. He wanted to keep those that couldn't defend themselves safe from danger. He would also be damned if Lancelot were to show him up. So, leaving his rock, he decided to test his mettle against the hedgehog._

When he had finally gotten out of his memory, he saw the others behind him. He then said "Spike, send a note to out friends. Tell them that the mission was a complete success." And so Spike wrote a letter. _Dear Twilight and Co., Mission is a success, the sword has been retrieved. How's it going on your end? Sincerely, Spike and Co. _He then sent it off with a puff of magic fire, and waited a few minutes for a reply. When it came, he read it out loud. _Dear Spike and Co., we've had a bit of a problem. You see…_


	10. Chapter 10: A Journey Begins pt 3

When they had reached the cliff in between them and the castle, they saw that the bridge was still up from the last time they had been here. The dryad that had lead them there said "Go into the castle, but step lightly. You do not know what lies ahead for you." He then melded himself into a nearby tree, apparently waiting until they either returned or died. As they looked up at the castle, they saw that the giant oak had been relocated next to it, and it towered past the castle's tower and into the sky.

"Where do y'all think we should start lookin'?" asked Applejack. Metal Sonic then said "There is likely to be several floors to look upon, so I suggest we split into two teams. Applejack, you take Tails, Francis and Pinkie down to the basement of this place, while the rest of us will head upwards. Report whenever possible, and stay sharp, No telling what could happen inside." The others nodded and they walked across the bridge and through the front gate.

As they walked inside, they saw that there was a place that seemed to be for the purpose of holding five objects. "I wonder what this is for?" said Twister Tail. Twilight answered him. "This is where they used to keep the Elements of Harmony, before me and my friends used them to stop Nightmare Moon." Twister then made a low whistle, obviously impressed.

"There are stairs heading down to your left Mr. Prower. Take the other team down there with you and we'll meet back up in the tower." said Metal Sonic. Tails nodded and moved down the stairs, taking the others with him. Metal then motioned the others to follow him upwards, and they followed him.

Twilight walked along up the stairs that lead to the old throne room, and she remembered what had transpired here on the night she had saved the world for the first time, the night she learned about the true power of friendship. Of course, that hadn't been the end of her adventures, she had had many ever since, and she had been learning more and more.

'Ah, but then you went and learned something you shouldn'tve, didn't you Twilight Sparkle?' asked a deep and dark feminine voice. She looked around to see where the voice had come from, but she could find nothing. She then asked "Did you two hear anything?" Sonic shook his head and Twister said "I didn't hear a thing, except for the wind of course. You alright?" She nodded and said "Yeah, I just thought I heard something, that's all." though she honestly didn't believe what she had said.

As they went down into the basement, they found themselves in a dark room. "Well that's just great, how are we supposed to see in here?" asked Francis. "Ooh, how about we use these torches?" asked Pinkie, who inexplicably had found a torch which she promptly lit with a match. Not only that, it seemed there were a rack of torches next to her. Each one grabbed a torch and lit it so they could survey the room.

There was no sword inside this room, and there seemed to be two doors that led to other rooms, so Tails and Francis split into one group and Pinkie and Applejack into another, taking the two different rooms.

As soon as Applejack was out of hearing range of the others, she decided to ask Pinkie Pie a question that had been bugging her since yesterday. "Hey Pinkie?" she asked. "What is it AJ, you need something?" asked the pink pony in question. "Well, to be perfectly honest, I want to know why you didn't tell us about you seeing into these dimension thingamabobbers."

Pinkie replied "Oh that. Well AJ, to tell you the truth, I never was sure whether or not those things were just figments of my imagination. I mean, when I was not more than a little filly, I used to see things all the time. For instance, I saw these things that were like a swarm of air piranhas, but they were invisible to your regular eyes, except when they moved as a…" she then looked down at her feet and cried "EEK! Two shadows! I'm doomed!" she then fell to her knees with a sad expression on her face. Applejack shook her head and said "Pinkie, I don't know if you've noticed, but there are TWO light sources in this here room."

Pinkie looked up and looked at the two torches in the room, and she looked back at Applejack with an embarrassed smile on her face. "Heh heh, sorry Applejack, I guess I got a bit carried away." She then leapt off of the floor and yelled "Woohoo! I'm not going to die!" Applejack put her face into her hand and shook her head. "Anyway, like I was saying, they move around as a group and you can see their shadow, and you know that you're a goner if you see a shadow that isn't coming from any light source. They were a part of the reason that I was afraid of the dark when I was little. I tried to tell my folks about them, and a whole bunch of other creatures that I had seen using this extra-dimensional power, but my folks thought I just had an overactive imagination. After a while, I began believing it myself, all right up until Rainbow Dash's Sonic Rainboom hit the rock farm."

Applejack then asked "So what happened then?" Pinkie answered "It was right about then that I met this girl in what I thought was in my imagination, the one you know as Lady Nimue, and she explained to me what I was seeing and what to do with it. We had all sorts of conversations and we fast became b.e.d.f.f.s. That's best extra-dimensional friends forever, so that you know. I also got to the point where I could control it to a certain degree, allowing me to do even better in my mission to bring smiles and happiness to everypony on this planet and even others. Did you know that there's a world out there where our lives are in a television show? I mean, that's really interesting if you think about it. There are whole entire worlds out there with all different sorts of things going on at any exact given moment; the possibilities are quite literally infinite! Speaking of which, I really should find out what happened to Mr. Dewitt, poor guy could use a few more smiles."

Applejack thought for a minute, and when she thought about what Pinkie had said about the universe housing infinite possibilities, she was simply awestruck at all the things she thought up, and realized that somewhere out there, there was a place where all that was real and alive and well. She finally said "Wow. Pinkie, if ah ever start callin' ya a feather brain, just stop me right there and remind me about what ya said." Pinkie nodded her head and said "Okie Dokie Lokie, now let's go find that sword AJ." Thus they continued their search for Caliburn.

After the throne room, there were only a couple of bedrooms and the tower stairs. Wishing to be thorough, they checked the bedrooms just in case. Twilight found herself in Princess Celestia's old bedroom. She knew this because upon the floor was a representation of Celestia's cutie mark, a blazing sun emblem. There was no furniture in the room, the princess obviously having moved it out when she left this castle for Canterlot. She wondered what it must have been like back then, two loving sisters ruling together, before one's jealousy turned her into a monster that was banished to the moon. Whenever Twilight thought back on it, she remembered that Celestia would always go quiet whenever she would look at the moon during Twilight's training under her. It was obvious if you thought about it, but what wasn't obvious was how Luna had gotten such ambitions. Was it simply jealousy that lead to their fight, or was there something more sinister going on behind the scenes? That was something that she would find out for herself, no matter what.

'Be careful Ms. Sparkle, those who are curious always get burned the fastest.' said a different feminine voice, and still there was nopony around to put the voice to. Still, it sounded familiar to her. Why did it though? Shaking her head, she walked into another room, this one belonging to the Princess Luna. On the ground was a crescent moon, Luna's signature cutie mark, and there was no furniture in this room either.

Then she saw something strange. There was a groove in the floor near the edge of the crescent moon, and she put her hoof onto it. The floor opened up and there were stairs leading to a dark room. Using her horn to light up the room, she found a long ruined desk and several items. All were totally damaged, except for a small book. On the cover was a sun that had a crescent moon covering a part of it. She picked it up, and saw it had no writing on the front, and so opened it up. On the front page was written 'To my dear daughter Luna, May this diary give you something to remember me by when I'm gone. May troubles be far from your mind and your sister keep you company until the end. Love, your mother.' And next to it was the signature L.F.

Twilight quickly dropped the book after reading that. This was Luna's private diary, obviously one she had written before turning into Nightmare Moon. This could give her amazing insight into what happened to her before her fall from grace, but what about Luna herself? Could she willingly betray the trust of the princess and read what she wanted kept private?

Suddenly she heard the voice of Twister Tail say "What's happening in here?" She quickly scooped up the dairy and put it into her knapsack, deciding that it would be best to keep it for later. She then called up "I found a secret place in this room, I think it used to belong to Princess Luna." Twister then came down and he looked around, finally saying "Well, it's official. Princesses have secrets too. Come on, we have to keep going if we're going to find the sword today." He then walked away, Twilight following behind him.

Back down in the lower floors, both teams were searching through the rooms. Pinkie and Applejack were currently in the old kitchen, searching high and low for anything. Francis and Tails were in the guard's sleeping quarters, and Tails asked Francis a question. "So, why do you call me master anyway?" Francis answered "To be honest, you're the only one I've felt deserved the title. Like I said before, I had a few masters before you, and they were all horrible people, kicking me when I couldn't do what they said, or when I didn't do it fast enough. They are horrible people who I do not miss. You on the other hand always treated me with respect, so I feel like treating you back with the same respect."

Tails nodded and said "Okay, but you don't have to call me that if you think that we're equals. You could just call me a friend if you'd like." Francis seemed to think about that for a minute before answering "I'll give it some more thought. C'mon, let's find this thing so we can get someplace else." Thus they continued their search for the sword.

None of the other floors had held the sword, so Metal Sonic and his group moved up to the floor before the staircase went to the top of the tower. On said floor was only the head guard's quarters, positioned so nothing could get the princesses from above except through them. They searched through the room for any hidden compartments, but they found nothing there as well.

Suddenly, several howls penetrated the air around them, followed by the air turning freezing cold. Then, several of the evil dryads materialized through the window. Others also started coming down the stairs, blocking their way up. Metal put up his fists, Twilight readied her magic, and Twister pulled out his sword. None of the beings made a move, except for one who looked as if he were made of dead bark, with scars all across his face and a giant one across his left eye, who spoke to them. "You were told to leave this forest, but now you have come into our inner sanctum. You will all be punished for your crimes. Brothers! Rise and destroy these intruders!"

At that, all the dryads began their attack. Twister took a swing with the sword, catching one with it and stopping it dead. He then hovered off the ground and began swinging his sword whilst in mid air, and after a few of them fell he shouted "Return from whence you came, foul spirits of the forest!" before charging straight into a group of them and taking a big swipe.

Twilight had been fighting these things with her hands, and she had to say she thought she was doing alright, though Metal Sonic was doing much better. Using a combination of aerial maneuvers and simple dodge techniques, he was able to avoid all of their attacks while striking back with a few of his own. They were understandably getting annoyed by the robot.

Suddenly, the one with the dead looking bark came up from behind Sonic and grabbed him. Though he resisted, he couldn't stop it from hitting him into a group of those enemies. They grabbed him as well and began pummeling him into the ground. All of the creatures had stopped attacking Twilight and Twister in favor of taking out Sonic.

Twilight could only watch in horror as sparks came flying out of the pile. She was panicking, what should she do? She couldn't stand there and let her friend get killed, that much was for sure. 'Don't just stand there you foal, give them a taste of your power!' cried the dark voice from before, but this time she felt inclined to agree with it. So, she began powering up for an attack.

Twister had seen them grab Sonic and start pummeling him into the dust, and he started swooping into the crowd to thin it out a bit. He wasn't having much luck, but then he heard a grunt to his left. When he took a look, he saw something shocking. It was Twilight Sparkle, only her eyes were emitting a purple smoke that ended up red. Her voice was also changed when she spoke, as if there were two people within her. "Nopony hurts my friends, do you hear me? You'll all PAY!" and with that she let out a mighty blast of magic.

They had heard the howl down below, and, after having checked the last room and finding nothing, they raced back to the steps. Suddenly, the castle started rocking and all fell to the ground. "Whoa, what was that?" asked Francis. Pinkie came up, a serious expression on her face. "I don't know, but I intend to find out. C'mon, let's get back up there, our friends need our help!" she said, and with that they ran back to the stairs. But when they had gotten back, the stairs had all collapsed from whatever had happened above them.

Applejack, thinking quickly, grabbed a lasso from her saddlebag which she had brought with her, and used it grab onto a rock protruding above the doorway. She then pulled it taught and started to climb up the rock face. But as she neared the top, the rock broke off and sent her falling to the ground. She screamed as she fell, but before she hit the ground, she felt a pair of arms come around her and they fell to the ground.

When she looked up, she saw Francis had caught her and was now on the ground under her. She somewhat blushed as she said "Um, thank ya kindly pardner." Francis replied "No problem at all. Can't let a friend get squashed if you can help it, am I right?" She then got up off of him. He followed suit, cracking his back as he did so. It was then that Tails said "Well, what do we do now?" No one answered because they couldn't think of one to give him.

When the smoke had cleared, Metal Sonic started a scan. He could see several of the tree beings had been entirely incinerated by that blast of magic that came from Twilight. This was unexpected. Did she always have this power within her, or did something unlock that from within?

It was then that he spotted her. She was lying on the ground, eyes closed and smoke pouring forth from them. He then felt an overwhelming concern for her. Could she have used enough magic to blow her eyes out? He walked over and carefully grabbed her head, opening one of her eyes open to make sure. He was relieved when he found that her eyes were perfectly fine, the smoke notwithstanding.

He wasn't entirely sure why, but he felt something for her, though he didn't know what. He would quench his curiosity later, for now he had things to take care of. **Begin analysis.** Damage report: Several lacerations to chest area, one slightly breaching the inner workings, suggest keeping away from hostiles till repairs are completed. Current power percentage, 75%. **Analysis end.** How could he lose that much power in that amount of time, even considering what he must have been using during the fighting today? That was a question for another time. He turned around and started looking around for Twister Tail.

When Twilight had gotten out of her unconscious state, she saw Sonic standing over her. He looked the worse for wear, several cuts in his armor, one going into his middle, and a scar through his left optic. He then turned around and walked up the stairs, obviously searching for someone.

When she had gained full consciousness, she attempted to move, but found she couldn't no matter how hard she tried. That last blast of dark magic had taken quite a bit out of her. It was then that she realized what she had done. How could she even think about using dark magic again? It was not meant for her or anypony else to use.

'It worked didn't it? We saved the one you care for, did we not?' asked the voice, and at this point she was scared to her very core. Who was this speaking to her, why did it keep coming for her? And what did it mean 'the one she cared for'? Then she realized something, she couldn't see Twister Tail anywhere. Had she vaporized him in the blast? She couldn't get up, but she could use a little more magic to see where he was.

She then cast a spell that she had learned from Celestia herself, a spell by the name of eye spy. It would allow her to see the position of anypony she wanted for a limited time. Casting it, she immediately looked for Twister. He was found outside the castle, apparently thrown into the oak at the side of the tower. He was still breathing, thank Celestia, and looked as if he would awake soon. She then turned her eyes toward her friends below and found that they were trapped below with no visible way up. It was then that the spell ended.

Suddenly, a letter from Spike appeared in front of her. When she read it, she suddenly got a touch of hope. She then started to compose her letter, tired though she was. In it, she detailed what was happening with her friends, though she had in so little of what she had done herself. Having finished it, she sent it off with her last bit of magic. Her eyelids felt infinitely heavy, and she closed them, hoping to get a kind of rest.

When they had read the letter, Dash's first instinct was to head straight for the forest, but Shadow shot that suggestion down quickly. "You cannot run to the forest and make it in time to help your friends Ms. Dash, though it pains me to say it I think they are on their own." Spike then interjected "So that's it? We're just going to give up on them? I don't think so pal, I'm not leaving my friends and sister to get hurt. Rarity, you're a unicorn, you can do a teleportation spell, can't you?"

She then replied "Uh, well Spike, I do know a teleportation spell, but I couldn't use it to get all of us there. I'm sorry, but the situation seems a bit out of our hands." The dragon then looked down at the ground, somewhat dismayed. Then Sinbad asked "Say, you've been sending messages in between us and them, isn't that done with some kind of magic?" Spike nodded, but he said "I've only been able to send messages and other objects through my magic fire breath, I've never even thought about using it to transport other ponies, err, people."

Percival then said "What say you Sir Shadow, dost thou not have a teleportation ability as well?" He then said "Yes, and it could get us to the castle, but not all of us. I only have a limited supply of energy to use, and I couldn't take us all there without having a break in between."

It was then that Spike had an idea. "Hey, if we can't do it separately, why not do it together? If we combine our teleportation magics together, we might be able to get us all there in a jiffy!" Rarity then said "Oh Spike, you little genius you. I say we get this portal underway."

Shadow then said "First we need to make sure we all have the same place in mind, so we don't all get blown off course, or worse." They took a look at the map, and eventually decided that the front of the castle was the best spot for them to go. Spike went first, taking a deep breath before breathing out his green flame. Instead of one puff though, he kept on going until he had made a ring of green fire that seemed to stay there instead of dissipating. He then fell to the ground, exhausted after using that much magic.

Rarity went next, concentrating on where she wanted to go, she felt the magic grow to its apex, and then released it with her hands at Spike's fire ring. The blue energy caught in the middle and stayed there. She too collapsed, holding her head. Fluttershy, seeing her on the ground, timidly asked "Are you okay Rarity?" Rarity held her ears and replied quietly "No, and could you please stop shouting?"

It was then Shadow's turn. He got his hands ready, and feeling the power within them, said the words necessary. "Chaos Control!" A yellow sphere shot out of his hands towards the combined portal, and turned the blue energy into a mix of blue green and yellow. He closed his hands and smirked, knowing that it had worked.

Sinbad then stood at the front of the group. "Alright guys, before we go in, there's one thing I want to say. Teleportation can do a number on any one of our internal systems, so prepare for anything on the other side. Also, if you feel a tugging sensation while in the portal, stick your head between your legs and kiss your butt goodbye. Right, now let's move out!" He then charged through the portal, the others following soon after.

There had to be a way out from this basement, the only question was how? Tails thought to himself, trying to think of any way they might be able to get up from there. There were no ledges to hold on to. There wasn't enough furniture down there to pile and make a tower, and there were no rocks to get their rope onto. There had to be a way out, they just had to find it.

It was then that he got the memory, and what a memory it was. _He looked up and saw a switch out of Sonic's reach. "Just how am I supposed to get to that?" he wondered aloud. Then Tails said "I can do it!" and began turning his tails in a circular motion. They went round and round faster and faster, until finally he got up into the air and pressed the switch. Sonic looked amazed for one second before saying "I guess bringing you along wasn't a bad idea after all."_

Miles then looked at his own tails and thought that he might just be able to pull it off. He said "Applejack, could you hand me your rope?" she then nodded and handed it to him, asking "You got an idea there pardner?" He then nodded, replying "I think so. Just give me a little room." After they backed away, he began spinning his tails, going faster and faster, until he got off of the ground. He kept going up and up until he reached about the height of the doorway, and then he dropped. He grabbed on to the edge, but it was clear that had taken a lot out of him, and he was in danger of slipping. Before long though, he pulled himself up and took the rope, tying it to the place where the elements had once resided. He then tossed the rest down to his friends, and waited for them to climb up.

When Twister woke up, he felt like something big had hit him. He said to no one in particular "Did anypony catch the number of that train that hit me?" He then remembered what had happened, and he was slightly scared. How did that mare learn dark magic? Should he be scared, should he tell Captain Shining Armor? No, that could wait. For now, he still had a job to do.

He got up and scanned the top of the tower. He saw a flash from the tower's balcony, and he flew upwards. Sure enough, there was the sword they had been searching for since they left Canterlot. Just as he was about to call for anyone, the dryads all surrounded him. He took a look around, and suddenly he was face to face with the scarred one from before. He at first let out a gasp of surprise, but as they did not attack, he regained his calm and said to him "What's up prune face?"

As soon as they had exited the portal, Rainbow Dash ran to the bushes. There was a bit of a hocking sound coming from over there. Sinbad asked "You okay kiddo?" She took a second to reply. "I'll be fine as soon as I get rid of lunch." Then she let out a "BLEH!" sound, and said afterwards "Okay, maybe breakfast too."

Sinbad then turned to the rest of his team. "Okay, what are the damages to our team?" Fluttershy answered him. " Rarity's got a massive headache and won't be able to use magic for a while, Spike's plum tuckered out, and Rainbow Dash has portal sickness. What about you Shadow?" Shadow looked and said "I should be fine after a minute; however, these sick people will need someone to keep them safe in case of dryads. I'll stay to make sure nothing happens to them."

Sinbad shook his head. "Right, one portal incident and I get my team knocked down past half. Fan-bloody-tastic." He then motioned for Percival to come to him. When she did so, he said "I'm going to climb up this tree and get up that way. You and Santa Fuega climb up the stairs, see if you can't help Tails and the others get up out of the basement." She nodded and motioned for Santa Fuega to come with her. Meanwhile, Sinbad popped out his Knuckle spikes and jumped, gliding over the cliff until he reached the oak. Digging his claws in, he put one arm above the other, climbing ever upward.

That comment had gotten Twister in trouble, but he never thought anything else could come from his mouth if he didn't intend it to. The dryads all charged towards him, but he flew upwards so as not to get hurt. He then dived down with his sword, sending several of them outwards with a wound on their shoulder. They then grabbed at him and started attacking again, but he batted their arms away with his hand. He leapt back into the air and dived into a few, sending them off of the tower. Then he saw an explosion came from the door leading to the stairs. Metal Sonic jumped out and started firing at random Dryads. "Alright, now it's a party!" he cried before jumping back into the fray.

Dash had finally stopped hurling and took a look up to the tower. She could see flashes of light and several objects falling down into the canyon below. Then something above made a yelling noise, getting closer and closer to her before crashing into the ground, skidding, rolling and finally bumping into a tree and slumping to the ground.

The object was none other than Twister Tail, who said "That's it, when I find that dryad that tossed me down here, I'm gonna hurl all over him." Then Rainbow Dash retorted "Is that all you're going to do to him? And I thought you were trained in several different styles of combat." Twister shook his head. "I must've hit my head harder than I thought; I could've sworn I heard…" He then took a clearer look at his surroundings before seeing her. "Rainbow Dash? What in the blue blazes are you doing here? I mean, shouldn't you be with the rest of your group?"

Shadow then said "In case you haven't noticed flyboy, we're all here." Twister then looked around, seeing Rarity, Spike, and Fluttershy down here as well. "Oh, okay." He said before getting up. "You guys do know that I'll be asking a 'how did you do that' question later right?" Shadow nodded. "Alright, in that case, I've got to get back up…" before he could finish his sentence, more dryads came out of the forest. The ones who could fight readied for battle.

Metal was now fighting these things by himself, though he was not surprised at that. He did wonder where the others were though, you'd think they'd have heard the noise and come running to help. No sense dwelling on that which you can't control, he thought to himself. He had to get that sword, which meant he had to clear out these dryads. He picked them off one by one, bit by bit, until finally he found his opening. He quickly dashed to the sword and pulled it out, holding it for a brief second. Then he felt something punch his back, and the sword fell from his grasp as he fell into the chasm below.

Tails had managed to get everyone up just as Lady Percival and Santa Fuega came into the building. Tails was surprised to say the least. "Lady Percival, how did you get here?" She merely answered "We used a portal to get here, now quickly, we must go upwards, they need our help up there." Tails nodded and made a break for the stairs. Fuega then looked at Francis and asked "Have you been keeping out of trouble mule?" he answered "For the most part, though you should know I prefer to stay outta trouble, miss uptight mare." She made a smirk as they continued upward.

As soon as they had gotten up to the head guard's quarters, they found Twilight lying on the floor. Applejack then ran straight towards her limp frame while saying "Twilight, you okay? C'mon cowgirl, give me a sign here." Pinkie also ran up to her friend and cried out "What's her APB? We need twenty cc's stat! Resuscitate! Resuscitate!"

Percival then came up to them and said "Calm yourselves, panicking will get you nowhere! Now, give her some air and let me see if there's something wrong." They both cleared out after a second, and Percival got a closer look at the unicorn. She was breathing easily, and she didn't seem to have a bump on her head, so she wasn't knocked out at any rate. She then began using her magic to take a sense of how her body was holding up. It was perfectly fine, but there was something in the room, something that made her skin crawl. She took a scan of the room, and then she felt the distinct feeling of dark magic in the area. It wasn't enough to be worried about affecting anyone else, but she had to wonder where it had come from.

"She's perfectly fine. I think she might have used a bit too much magic though. She'll be up in a bit. If any of you would like to stay, go right on ahead. I'm heading upward to help the others." All but Tails and Pinkie followed her. As soon as the others had left, Tails looked at Pinkie and saw that she had a sad expression on her face. "Oh Twilight," she said, "what did you get yourself into now?"

Metal had managed to activate his jet boosters so he didn't continue his descent into the chasm. He then flew upwards, trying to find where the sword had landed. He then spotted it lodged in the ancient oaks boughs, and he landed onto it. No sooner had he done this, the dryads had jumped down onto the tree. The scarred one spoke again. "Why do you insist in fighting that which cannot be defeated? The more of us you kill, the more of us will come. Why not give up now so that we can just kill you quickly and painlessly?"

The robot then made a noise, something none had ever heard. It was a chuckle that sounded like it passed through a filter of some sort, coming straight from his mouth. He then said "You're a fool if you think I'll just give up. Make no mistake, I have no illusions that the probability of my success is very low at its highest estimate, but I can at least give you all a pain in your necks before I go to the scrap heap. Besides, death would be atonement for all the pain I have caused others. So go ahead, have at me, if you dare." Then the creature cried "You dare question my obvious power? Destroy him!" They charged, and he stood still as a rock.

Percival had gotten to the top and heard every word of the exchange. She then watched as he stood there, as if he was daring them to hit him. Then, as one of them took their swipe, he made his move. He caught its fist and twisted, throwing it over the side. He then jumped to a limb and burst forward, knocking a few more towards the ground below. He then moved through their ranks, knocking them off as he went, as majestically as an eagle in mid flight. Eventually, he got to where the sword was lodged into the tree, but before he could do anything, he found himself face to face with the creature that had been hunting him this whole time.

Sinbad continued climbing up the towering oak, but he had recently found a new danger. There were tree people climbing up the oak as well, and they weren't exactly friendly climbers either. They were swiping at his legs as they climbed upwards, so he decided to return the favor. Taking out his sword, he swiped at them as they tried. He'd always get a few and they always fell back to the ground. Still, at this rate it could take him an hour to get up the tree.

Then he saw more of them falling from above. When he looked up, he saw that there were more getting pushed downwards. He then looked down and saw several of the ones that had been knocked down climbing back up. Sinbad sighed frustratedly and thought 'If I get my hands on whoever's doing this, they're a dead man.' He then swept his sword at more of the ones coming up.

Rainbow Dash kept fighting the things that had charged at them through the forest, and she was thrilled to actually be fighting something. She gave a twirling kick to one of the creatures and they fell back into their fellows. She then turned around and gave a karate kick to another one, but this one ran directly into Twister, who knocked its head off with his sword. He then landed and, using a series of kicks and slashes to take out whatever enemy he could.

She had to admit, the guy had a certain style to him. He was fast, though obviously not quite as fast as she was, but he had great agility as well. He had quite a few combat moves on him, and he seemed to be in control of the battlefield, picking and choosing where he would fight as opposed to just charging in. Boy, she certainly knew how to pick friends, that was for sure. Then one of the things tried to claw at her, and she refocused on the fight at hand.

As Twister whirled his way through the battlefield, picking his targets, he couldn't help but notice Rainbow Dash as she charged straight through yet another group of the dryads with a karate kick. The girl was a bit headstrong, but at least she could knock 'em down and keep 'em down. She certainly had skill with her bare hooves, and was faster than him too. He was beginning to like this mare even more. Then he looked and saw Shadow in the fray, and realized that there were enemies behind him, so he took off and got them off his back.

Shadow had been fighting nonstop ever since they had first attacked them. There was an entire swarm of them here, and they looked ready to kill. He had ordered Fluttershy to take the others and head into the castle, and she had done so. All things considered, they weren't doing too bad, but the worst part of it was that they couldn't hold them all back because of the sheer numbers of their enemies. They would soon have to retreat back into the castle just to keep themselves alive. He just hoped they could survive that long.

Metal Stared at the creature for a second, trying to see what his best plan of attack was. The dryad was much larger than a regular one now, though how he had gotten that way was a mystery to all. The creature raised his claws, getting into a fighting position. Metal then burst forward and tried to strike at it, only to be blocked. He tried using his fists to get at something, but all his attacks were blocked or were ineffective against the monster. Suddenly, it grabbed his arm and held him high. This was not going to end well.

Twilight suddenly felt her eyes beginning to open again, and Pinkie and Tails noticed this. "Twilight!" cried the pink pony, obviously happy to see her friend up again. Twilight looked up and saw her bubbly pink friend and said rather weakly "Hey Pinkie, it's good to see you. What are you doing here?" Pinkie just went "Pfft, I was just keeping one of my best friends in the whole wide world safe from getting smasharoonied or electrocutied or burnified or…" at this point Tails put his hand over her mouth, thinking that the pony was getting a bit overboard with her worries.

Twilight got up at that point and was about to ask how long she had been out, but then heard a bashing over by the hole in the wall. When she walked over to get a look at what it was, she saw Metal Sonic getting tossed around like a rag doll by a big dryad. She suddenly panicked and tried to use magic on the creature, but she found she didn't have enough energy for that, the last blast having taken a heavier toll than expected. Realizing that she couldn't do anything in this situation, she stared as tears formed in her eyes.

The creature had been tossing him around for a good minute before he dropped him and took a look at what he thought was his defeated enemy. He then said "Look at you. You claim to be a warrior skilled, and yet you fall before me like a leaf to the wind. Any real warrior would have provided me at least a little challenge. You on the other hand, are no challenge at all. You won't even throw me a killing blow! I see no reason to prolong this slaughter, so I will give you a merciful death!" He then raised his clawed hand, ready to grab him again…

Metal then rolled out of his way and got back onto his feet. He looked up coldly, and replied "A merciful death?" He then barked out a metallic laugh and said "You do not know what you speak about. Trust me, if either of us knows what death is, it is I." He then looked at his own feet. "I have killed so many people, men and women, that it's hard for me to give myself another moment of life. I remember each and every one of those slaughtered by my hand, and I do not wish to see more." He looked back up, and his optics showed a pleading look. "Please, this does not have to end in bloodshed. Turn your brothers back to the forest and let us leave with the sword, we will never disturb you or this place again."

The beast roared at his offer and cried "You talk too much! No mercy!" He then slashed towards Sonic. He merely replied "No mercy." and in a flash, he took to the sky above his foe. The dryad looked upwards, waiting for what it was about to do. He then charged downwards with his chaos field surrounding him, and he managed to punch a hole straight through where the thing's gut used to be.

Unfazed, he tried to swat at it, but it came back down spinning like a drill, taking an arm off. This time, he grabbed Metal Sonic with his remaining hand and attempted to squeeze him to death. Metal turned his hands into cannons and blasted at its head, managing to catch the wood it was made of on fire. The creature then dropped Metal and attempted to put out the fire on its body. Metal then charged a shot and blasted off a leg. The creature hobbled and attempted to regain its balance, but almost fell off of the edge. Sonic pushed him back into the middle of the tree, and he fell over.

He then saw Metal standing before him, and he tried to squash him with his remaining arm. Metal merely sidestepped it, charged a shot, and shot off its arm. The creature roared in frustration and pain. Then he heard a _shiinnk_ coming from in front of him, and saw Metal right in front of him, the sword raised to meet the dryad's throat.

Metal then spoke, his voice as cold as a wintery blast. "I gave you the chance to walk away from all of this without death, but you chose this path, and now your road has met its end." He then raised his sword. Once it was over his head, he said "Heaven have mercy on you, for I have none to give." And then he swung.

They had been fighting back towards the doors when they heard the ghastliest shriek come from above. All combatants had stopped and looked up, and what they saw next they couldn't believe. Standing tall on the oak was Metal Sonic, holding in his hand a somewhat ovular object. Then he threw it down towards the ground. The dryads caught it and took a look. They then shrieked in terror and began running away from the castle as fast as their legs could take them.

Shadow took a look at what Sonic had dropped, and when he got a clear look, he almost gasped. It was the head of one of those creatures, obviously the toughest of them to cause them to run away like that. He then looked up, and it still stood tall, looking out into the forest as his enemies routed. He wasn't sure what this meant for them, but he knew what it meant for him. He'd have to keep a closer eye on it from now on.

Twilight couldn't believe her eyes. She'd just seen Sonic kill that creature in cold blood. Why would he do that? Didn't he hate killing? He then engaged his boosters and came in through the hole in the wall. Sonic noticed all of them looking at him with disdain. Twilight then came up to him and asked "Why did you do that? I thought you said you hated killing." He shook his head and answered "I do. You saw that monster fight, you know that given the chance he would have killed all of us. I did what was necessary to protect all of you from danger."

Twilight was suddenly at a loss for words. "Danger? DANGER!? You killed a being that was totally defenseless and claim it was for our safety? What kind of a being are you?" He then stared straight at her and replied "In case you didn't notice, I gave him a chance to walk away, but he didn't want any mercy. I gave him exactly what he wanted." He then brushed past her with only one final remark to give. "I did what was necessary to protect my friends, if that makes me a monster, so be it." He then walked off, a metallic clank resounding as he took each step.

Twister looked in unbelief as he said, "Wait a second, you mean to tell me that he offs one guy, and the rest of them go hiding into the hills?" Shadow replied "Yes. Why, do you feel it wasn't hard enough?" Twister shook his head. "No, it just seems rather fortunate that's all." He then walked back into the forest where several of the dryads had fallen.

Sinbad climbed down the tree as it seemed there was nothing left for him to do. He then hopped and glided back down to the ground. He then spoke to Shadow, who was right next to him. "Okay, so we won, right?" Shadow nodded, but then said "I'm afraid that our robotic friend might be reverting into his more robotic nature." He looked mockedly shocked and said in a sarcastic voice "Really? What makes you say that?" Shadow then growled and said "Don't mock me! You know about how we've been seeing the memories of our alternate selves. And since one of his alternate selves is the Metal that I dismantled, it stands to reason that he might be being corrupted by him." Sinbad had to admit, that logic wasn't faulty. Still, he only currently had one piece of evidence to support that theory, so he replied "Hmm, alright, I'll keep an eye on him."

Rainbow Dash had followed Twister into the woods to see what exactly he was up to. When she finally got her eyes on him, she saw him kneeling on the ground. Fearing something had happened, she went up to him and asked "Hey, is everything alright?" He opened his eyes and said "Hmm? Oh, hey there miss Dash. I'm just fine, thank you for asking. I was just praying for the souls lost today." She looked down and saw his hands folded in front of him.

Now, Equestria has quite a few religions within it, some of which praise Celestia as a god, others which had Dragon deities and even some which nopony knew what they were supposed to be. Dash had never subscribed to any religion, mostly because she never really considered it. Still, she felt compelled to ask "Okay, so who are you praying to?" He smiled and answered "God." Dash then said "I know that, but which one?" He then answered "The Christian God."

"The cristo-what now?" she asked, having never heard of such a thing. Twister put his hand up and said "I'll tell you about it later, I mean, if you don't mind a little boring conversation." She answered, "Uh, okay, later then." She then walked off, slightly confused and intrigued.

Metal Sonic came through the door and saw Shadow and Sinbad staring at him. He then asked "How did you and your team get here so fast?" Shadow answered "We took a ride through a teleportation field. What was that head tossing business about any way?" Metal waved him off and said "Doing what was necessary. Now come along. Let's get going and set a camp up or else who knows what could happen to us." He then began walking off into the forest.

As Twilight came down the steps she saw Fluttershy, Rarity and Spike down below her. She was suddenly confused and said "What! Where did, who did, how did you guys get here?!" Fluttershy said "Twilight! Thank goodness you're okay." She nodded and said "Yea, I'm fine but still, how did you guys get here?" She answered "Well, three of us used their teleportation magic to transport us over here, and we came here to help you."

Before Twilight could ask another question, she heard Percival's voice from above. "Perhaps we should tell you the whole story before you start asking questions." Twilight nodded, but then they heard Shadow call out "Gather up your belongings and let's move out. We're heading for Ponyville and want to make good headway before dark." Percival then passed them and said "Come, we'll talk on the way to Ponyville." Thus Twilight followed eagerly, waiting for an explanation to what had happened today.


	11. Chapter 11: Homeward Bound

**A/N:** Hello readers, Chet-Manley01 here for his first author's note. First order of business, I don't own either Sonic The Hedgehog or My Little Pony. Second, for those who find religion an easily offensible topic, or don't like seeing it in fanfiction, please skip paragraphs 5 through 11. Please read and review. _EXCELSCIOR!_

* * *

By the time Twilight had heard the entire story it was late afternoon, and they had been heading through the forest for some time. It was quite interesting to hear. Understandably, Twilight had a few questions, and so she began with one. "Okay, so Spike, Rarity and Shadow combined their powers to make this portal you guys jumped through?" Rarity answered her "Yes dear, and though it gave me an excruciating head pain, I'm glad it worked and would do it again given the chance."

Twilight then said "To be honest, I'm amazed. Not only has there never been any mention of a combined teleportation spell ever, but to mix magic from two different worlds? This could be the discovery of a lifetime! Besides that, who knew that little Spike had so much magic power in him?" Spike nodded and said "I wasn't sure I had it in me either, but I suppose I did."

Twilight then looked over at Rarity and said "And you, where do I begin? Not only did you use your energy to make a standing portal, which like I said is a very great thing, but you also brought up a shield made out of diamonds without even knowing any shield spells." She then tried to form words, but her mouth kept opening and closing. "I've honestly got nothing that I think I can say. I mean, how did you do it? Can you remember anything before closing your eyes?"

Rarity thought for a second before answering "Well, just before I closed my eyes, I remember seeing light coming from my chest. Do you think that this is the result of me using my element of harmony on myself?" Twilight thought for a moment, answering "I'm not entirely sure, but that line of questioning should be studied further."

Rainbow Dash had decided to talk to Twister about his faith. "Well," he started "It all starts with the Jewish faith really. Their faith comprises the first half of the bible, which is the document which is an integral part of the faith. Anyway, the Jews had a prophecy that they would receive unto them a savior, and they waited for this guy for lots of years, suffering many hardships as they went."

"Then, at the height of the Roaman empire, A child was born was born in the city of Bethlehem, and his name was Jesus. It is the Christian belief that he is the Messiah that the Jews waited for. The Jews however, ehh, not so much." Curious, she asked "Why not?" He answered "See, they thought their Messiah was going to be a conquering king that they could use to drive out the Roaman soldiers. Jesus however was not that type of guy."

She then asked "So, what kind of guy was he?" He thought for a second and answered "Well, I think he was the kind of colt that Princess Celestia would have liked. See, he was always teaching that we should love our enemies, no matter what they did to you. He also taught that if someone should strike you, you should turn the other cheek. So, you can see why the then fight ready Jews would have a problem with that."

She nodded and then asked "Wait, if you follow what he says then why are you a guard? I mean, isn't violence prohibited in your religion?" He answered "He never said that you can't defend others from those that would persecute them. And in the end, everyone has a right and a duty to defense of both self and others, don't you think?"

She then said "Okay, but back to what you were telling me before." He nodded and said "So, after they saw that Jesus was showing the people, they got rid of him by saying he openly said he was king of the Jews, which is not entirely accurate. Anyway, the religious leaders sent him to the Roamans, and they had him crucified."

Dash then said "That's horrible! If he was that good why would they do that?" He shook his head and said "You'd be surprised how far ponies and other creatures are able to take things when they feel that their positions of power are threatened. So, after that you'd think that Christianity would be dead and buried, but Jesus rose from the dead after three days! He also had these twelve followers who, after receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, they spread the faith all over the world, to every race and many beings."

"If it was that popular, how come I haven't heard about it before?" He answered tentatively, "Well, to be fair, during Discord's reign the number of faithful skyrocketed, because they felt they needed a savior in those dark times. After Princesses Luna and Celestia showed up however, many ponies believed that their saviors had arrived, and therefore stopped following Christianity. Besides, God does not punish those who are morally good even if they don't worship him. Carrot S. Lewis once said 'Those that do good, even if it be in the name of the devil, will have a place in heaven.' Spots aren't guaranteed just because you believe in Jesus and God, after all."

At this point, Shadow stopped the group. Looking at the time, they had about a half hour before sunset. He said "I suggest that we set up camp here. You guys set up your tents, I'll be back with some fire wood." He then whooshed off into the woods.

As the others set up camp, Shadow whooshed in and out with some dead wood. He then dug a small hole and put the wood in it. When he was finished, he said "Alright, the fire's done. I'll be out on patrol tonight so that no beasts get to us. See you in the morning." He then whooshed back into the woods, not to be seen again.

They had set up the tents and started the fire, and they put Applejack in charge of cooking the food. As she cooked, Francis noticed she wasn't saying much, so he felt compelled to ask her "You seem a bit quiet. Something on your mind partner?" She kind of looked at the fire for a second before answering "Well, to be honest, I'm missin' mah family somethin' fierce." He nodded and said "Oh, okay. Who's all in your family?"

She then answered "Well, I've got tons of cousins, uncles and aunts, but the family I'm particularly missing is my Granny Smith, my big brother Big Macintosh, and my little sister Apple Bloom. I mean, I've been away from home for a while so they're probably worried sick about me." Then Rarity interjected "Yes, and I'm sure my sister Sweetie Belle is waiting for me as well. I hope mother and father aren't worried about me."

Pinkie Pie then said "Yes, I can't wait to get back and see the Cakes again! I wonder how much work Mr. and Mrs. Cake have been able to get done while I've been away, what with me not being there to take care of the twins." Rainbow Dash then said "I'm sure they'll be fine Pinkie, yeesh, don't worry about it so much. Although, I do admit I'd like to see Scootaloo, just to make sure the little firebrand hasn't gotten into too much trouble mind you."

Francis then said "What about you two, have you got any family in this Ponyville place?" He had directed that at Twilight and Fluttershy. The latter was first to answer. "Oh, um, well, you see, my parents live in Cloudsdale, home to almost every pegasi in Equestria. I haven't really seen them much since I moved to the surface, I hope they're alright."

Twilight, who was deep in thought, then said "Huh? Oh, family, right. Well, you all know about my brother Shining Armor, I've also got a mom and dad that live in Canterlot, though I haven't seen them since my brother's wedding. Uh, what about the rest of you, do you have any family?" She directed this at the mobians.

Percival answered "Of course we all have families of some sort. "I was an only child before I became a Knight, and I'll admit it has been quite a time since I saw my parents. Still, I know they are proud of me, and I'll be glad when I see them again."

Sinbad made a harsh "HA!" and then said "I tell you what sister, for every good parent there's one out there that is complete crap." Santa Fuega seemed to take offence at this and said "Fool! What gives you the right to say that." He then looked at her and replied "Well when you're family leaves you at an orphanage, I suppose it gives you the right to be a little pissed off at them, don't you agree?"

Fuega looked as if she were choking on her own words, before she finally answered "I'm sorry, I didn't realize…" He cut her off, saying "No you didn't, now let's move onto someone else please."

Tails spoke up next. "I was the son of a large family of five, and we were all working so we could have enough to eat. I was the first to set off on my own after deciding to become a blacksmith. I miss my family, that's for sure, but I can stand to be away from them for a while yet."

"What about Shadow, does he have any family?" asked Pinkie. All of them shook their heads, not knowing the answer, except for Twilight, who said "Unfortunately no, he was, as he said 'created in a lab by a professor of science'. He hasn't ever had a family to call his own, I don't think."

All gave pause, not knowing what to say to that. It was then that Fluttershy said "I wonder if Maria was a part of his family or just a good friend?" Metal Sonic, who had been waiting behind them all, suddenly shifted his gaze and asked "What was that you said?" She realized that he had heard, and was asking instead for an explanation. "Well, you see, back when I first met him, when he woke up he said the name Maria. It seems rather obvious that that name is important to him, but I don't know in what way."

The robot then looked away, seemingly thinking of something. He then walked off into the forest. Fluttershy, thinking she might have offended him, followed him. After an awkward silence, Francis then said "Well, if anyone wants to know, my mother was a knight's steed, and my father was quite literally a jackass. Haven't seen em since I was sold off the farm, and I doubt I'll see em again. Anyone else want to take a go?"

"Say Twister, you never said anything about your family, mind saying a few words?" asked Fuega. He sort of muttered something under his breath. Rainbow Dash, curious as to his behavior, then asked "Oh c'mon Mr. talk-your-ear-off, you've been happy to talk to us about all sorts of other things. Can't you tell us about them, even a little bit?" He thought for a second before answering "Mom and Dad were in the royal guard, that's about it." Before they could ask anything more, they heard a howl in the distance.

Fluttershy followed Sonic to where he was standing, and he was looking up at a starry and cloudy sky. He was just standing there, so she asked "Are you alright?" He then snapped his head back and looked at her. She took a step back in almost shock, but then he said "I am not physically weak, so you can keep your fears of that in check."

She then said "Um, no, what I meant was, I know what happened back at the castle, and I wanted to make sure you were still, um, you." He kept looking at her for a moment before saying "You wish to know if what I did has changed who I am. The answer is no. I didn't kill it, not in the traditional sense at any rate. If you didn't know, those things were spirits from a battle long ago decided. The worst I could've done to it was sending it back to wherever dead men go to when they die."

She then got a better look at him and said "But, you don't like killing, you've said so yourself. Why do it to him?" He turned his head away and shook it. Turning it back, he asked "Why do you all keep hounding me about this? That thing was obviously their leader, so I did what any man would do against a venomous snake and cut off the head. Even if it can't really die, it's not coming for us again any time soon. Besides, it's not about what I like to do, I was programmed to defend against, deter and destroy enemies, and I will continue doing that as long as I still function. It's not as if I am a human being or anything anyway."

She then suddenly got into his face and said in a low and even threatening sounding voice "How dare you take away your own free will?" The robot was confused and asked "What?" She got back into his face and said "You heard me. When Lady Nimue freed you from jail, she said that you had a control chip installed into you. Now, if you didn't have any free will, would that meanie Dr. Robotonik have put a chip like that into you? No! So why don't you cut out this 'robot and only a robot' crap and face up to what you did?"

Her eyes then widened, and she reverted back to her normal self, saying "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" He held up his hand and said "No, you're right. I've been spending too much time thinking of myself as nothing more than an automaton, when in reality, I've just been kidding myself. I know I have choice; I have had it since the loyalty chip was destroyed, but I'm still not sure what to do with this, freedom. My first instinct was revenge, but now? I have no idea what the hell I'm supposed to do. Maybe when I have a little more time…"

At that point, a howl was heard in the distance. Fluttershy and Metal looked around. Fluttershy said "It sounded like a wolf, but, not quite like any wolf I've heard before." Sonic then said "Return to camp Ms. Fluttershy, I'll deal with it. And not in a violent manner, if you wish to know. Keep the others close in case it tries to get to you." He then walked off deeper into the forest. Fluttershy, satisfied for now, headed back to camp.

"What do y'all suppose that was?" asked Applejack. Twilight was the one to answer. "It sounded like a wolf, but who knows what it could be in this forest?" The others agreed with that statement. After a minute they then saw Fluttershy come out of the forest. Twilight then asked "Hey Fluttershy, where's Sonic at?" She then looked at them and said "He went to go check out the wolf. He told me he wants us to stay as close to each other as possible, so we can keep each other safe." They whole heartedly agreed, and they stayed silent and sat at the campfire, preparing for the worst.

Metal had his night vision activated so he could see everything as it moved in the night, all the animals and insects moving about. He had always had a fascination with nature ever since he was first created. How everything worked to keep everything else in balance, how each creature had its own role to play in the grand scheme, and how they each did their jobs. It was truly a wonder how it all worked.

Suddenly, he heard a rustling noise coming from his left side. When he turned to see what it was, he was rewarded with a slash across his chest. He tried to hit it away, but the creature was too fast for that. It bounced back and slashed at Sonic, knocking him down to the ground. It then jumped onto him. At least now he could see what it was he was dealing with.

It was shaped like a Mobian hedgehog, but it seemed to have too sharp of teeth to be a regular one. He also seemed too furry and seemed to have animalistic tendencies. Whatever it was, it didn't like Metal very much. Sonic kicked it off and got up as quickly as possible. He looked to where he had kicked it to, and saw that it had gotten up. It then looked up to the sky and unleashed an almost deafening howl.

So, that's what he was dealing with. In his time with the mad Doctor, he had downloaded information on many things, including old tales and legends that at the time seemed irrelevant. Robotonik had insisted that the information was crucial to fighting threats in some of his crazier schemes, when he tried to make the legends happen. And here it was, one of the many legends of Mobius, standing before him. It was a werehog.

From what he knew, they were creatures that went by uninhibited during the day because their transformation only occurred during the night. They had increased strength during the night and had an animal like sense of smell and hearing. He knew he couldn't use anything that could be potentially life threatening, not only because of his promise, but because there was someone in there that probably didn't even know what was going on with his body.

Thinking quickly, he charged at the creature and knocked it off its feet. He then jumped back so that he could get away from its arms. Unfortunately, it had an ability that no one had even guessed at. Its arms stretched farther than scientifically possible, and grabbed a branch over his head. It then swung and kicked him in the back of it.

This was getting him nowhere. He had to find a way to stop this beast from destroying him. If he got back to camp, he would have support in case that thing decided to attack. But first he had to find a way to stop it in its tracks. He then realized he had a trick up his sleeves, quite literally.

He turned back to the creature and had turned his arms into cannons of sorts. They looked like guns, only at the end were two cup like features. He aimed them at the beast, who charged straight for him. He then fired, letting out a high pitched sonic blast. The creature yelped in pain, and Metal took off back to camp as fast as he could.

When Sonic had returned, the others had finished their meal. They took a look at him, and Twister said "Jeez dude, what happened to you?" He answered "There's a werehog about, so for now we should all be on guard. Split up into teams and look out for anything suspicious."

All the ponies looked at each other, and Twilight asked "What exactly is a werehog?" Lady Percival answered her. "It is a creature of legends, half wolf, and half hedgehog. I have encountered them before; they are not to be underestimated. Keep sharp eyes, ears, and noses out." The group nodded, and each split off into smaller groups.

Twilight, Percival and Pinkie comprised one of the groups. They were patrolling around the tents. Percival, remembering the events earlier today said "Twilight, I wish to ask you a question." Twilight nodded, and she asked "What exactly happened up in the tower?" Twilight was confused and asked "Whatever do you mean?"

Percival then said "Twilight, I have magical abilities, one of them being able to sense other magical power in the area. When we got up to where you were lying, I felt the presence of dark magic around the room. What happened up there, that I could sense dark magic?" Twilight shook her head and said "I, uh, don't know what you're talking about." Before she could say anything further, Pinkie got in front of her.

"Now Twilight, you and I both know that that's a lie, so don't be a lying liar pants, tell the nice lady the truth." She said it with a smile, but it had an edge to it, one she couldn't place. "What do you mean Pinkie?" Pinkie shook her head and then said "Twilight, I know you learned how to use dark magic back when we saved the Crystal Empire from being corrupted. Why don't you tell her the truth silly?"

Lady Percival then asked "Ms. Sparkle, is what she saying true?" Twilight was sweating bullets, but did answer "Yes, what she's saying is true. But let me explain, I never intended to use dark magic to hurt anypony, it just sort of, happened." They both had faces that seemed to beg for more of an explanation.

"You see, when we were up there fighting the dryads, Sonic got caught and was being pulverized by them. After seeing that, I, I don't know. It's like something in me just snapped and I used everything I had on them. Apparently, that meant I, I…" Her voice started shaking and finally she broke down in front of them. Tears came out of her eyes as she realized "Oh Celestia, I killed them. Every single one of them. How could I call him a killer when there's blood on my hooves as well? I'm a hypocrite and a failure, how can I hope to continue being Celestia's student?" She then fell to the ground, sobbing.

Pinkie came to her friend's aid, saying "Twilight, stop thinking like that. I know that you're ashamed of what happened and all, but trust me; this is much better than you even realize." Twilight looked up in shock at what she had said. It was good to feel ashamed of yourself? What in the world was she talking about?

Pinkie continued her little speech. "What you're feeling right now is guilt, and that means you care about what you did, and trust me, that's much better than feeling good about killing. Trust the girl who can see into other universes when she says 'it could be much worse'. I mean, there are probably even a dozen universes out there where I'm a serial killer. I mean, how messed up is that? Not having any sort of remorse for hurting somepony? Nope, nosireebob, no thank you, no way Hos…"

Before she could say anything further, Percival put her hand over Pinkie's mouth. "I believe what she means to say is, it's good that you feel bad about what you did. It means that you realize that what you did was not something you want to do again, am I right?" Twilight shook her head no. "Then do not do it again."

Pinkie then got out of her mouth clamp and said "Yeah! And aside from that, you didn't kill them because you wanted to either. You did it to save a friend from destruction. And even though you did go a bit overboard, I think in Celestia's book that would count as a mark for friendship. She wouldn't get rid of you as her one and only star pupil because you did something you shouldn't and regretted it, would she?"

Twilight thought for a minute. It was true she had gone overboard when she used dark magic, but that wasn't what was bothering her. What was bothering her were the voices in her head before and after she had used her magic. Why had she heard them? Why did one sound so familiar? Why did the other tempt and taunt her? She had so many unanswered questions, and so few answers.

Then she realized something. Pinkie was right. Princess Celestia wouldn't get rid of her that easily, would she? She made a mistake; she would be the first to admit it. But was that reason enough to stop teaching her? No. Everypony has made mistakes in their lives, even Celestia and Luna. She vowed to talk to them about it, as soon as she possibly could.

Twilight then got off of the ground and said "You're right Pinkie. Thanks for being there for me." Pinkie put her hand up and said "Pshh, that's nothing. Just something any friend'd do for another, am I right?" They then continued keeping their eyes peeled for any sign of a werehog.

Twister Tail, Metal Sonic and Fluttershy were another group. They were the group nearest to the forest, just in case it decided to show up. Twister noticed that Fluttershy seemed awfully nervous, so he asked "Say, something wrong? You're looking a little worried over there."

Fluttershy looked at him and said "Oh, uh, well, to be honest, it's Shadow. He's out in the forest along with that creature and he, well, I don't think he's been sleeping for the past few nights. I, well uh, that is to say, I just feel like he should be here with us, not out there, especially with the way he's been pushing himself."

Twister replied "Oh. Well, if I were you I wouldn't worry too much about tall dark and brooding. He's one of those guys that know how to survive. Trust me, he'll be back and kicking by sun up tomorrow, I'm sure of it."

Metal had heard the exchange and asked "You say he hasn't been sleeping recently. How is it possible that you know he didn't sleep last night back in Canterlot?" Fluttershy went red as a tomato and said "Well, I uh, I went to see him yesterday after we left the party and, well, he wasn't in his room. I looked around for him for a little while after that, but I couldn't find him. I'm positive he hasn't been sleeping, even if I can't really prove it."

Sonic seemed to be deep in thought after she had said those words. Not sleeping, leaving before sunset, coming back after sun up? If he wasn't the werehog, then he knew who it was at least. The real question was whether he should voice his opinion to the others or not. If he told them, Shadow might not be trusted within the group. If he wasn't the werehog then that wouldn't be good at all. Then again, if he was the werehog, he certainly had an amount of control on it. Why else would the werehog not attack Fluttershy when she was alone?

He came to a decision then and there. He wouldn't make any accusations until he was sure of what Shadow was, and what exactly he was dealing with. He then turned to Fluttershy and said "Do not worry. He has endured many hardships in his life. A little bit of restlessness and a rampaging beast aren't going to hurt him in the least." A howl suddenly perforated the air, but this one sounded like it was rather far away.

Twister spoke up. "Hmm, it seems farther away than before. Do you think it's a trick? Trying to get our guard down or something?" That would be a viable answer, if it weren't for the fact that odds were Shadow already had that thing under his control. Still, he didn't want to alert to the others that he knew something they didn't. They had enough reason not to trust him anyway. He then heard Fluttershy yawning, and he got an idea.

Sonic turned to Twister and said "You have a point, but I'm afraid our friends here are starting to succumb to the fatigues of the day." Twister looked at Fluttershy and found his assessment to be correct. "Okay, you've got me there. What should we do about that?" Metal seemed almost too anxious to give an answer. "I am a machine and therefore do not tire. I will keep watch for the beast while everyone else sleeps. If it decides to show up, I'll alert you all."

Twister nodded and then proceeded to gather up the others. After telling them they could go to sleep, most of them trotted happily off to their tents. The exception to this rule was Twilight Sparkle.

She stood outside of her tent, looking at the moon, pondering the events of the day. Then she heard a voice behind her say "You really should be resting Mrs. Sparkle. You've had a lot taken out of you today." She turned around and saw, unsurprisingly that Sonic was the speaker.

As she looked, she said "Oh, hi." She then went into deep thought, and after a minute she said "So, I think I was a little harsh on you earlier. I know that what you did you did to keep us safe, it's just…" He then held a hand in front of her. "Mrs. Sparkle, I am the one who owes you an apology." She shook her head in shock and asked "What?"

Sonic turned to face her more properly and said "I killed that creature. It was certainly the only way to do it, but that doesn't mean I liked it at all. It may not seem like it, but I have always been a lover of life and all its wonders. The thought of actually killing anyone has always made me sick on the inside, and with the mad Doctor forcing me to do it all these years…" He trailed off here. If he had tears to shed, he would have.

He started up again after a moment of silence. "As you can probably guess, I never really had a choice in what to do for myself, and after Shadow released me from his grip, the first thing I wanted to do was murder that son of a bitch for turning me into a killing machine. But, I never really thought about what I would do after I got my freedom. The concept of free will is, to be certain, a fairly new one to me. I don't truly know what I was going to do after destroying him, but now, with the help of you, and your friends, I might just have a hope of doing something besides destroy myself."

Twilight had been standing there the entire time, and now had her mouth agape at what he had said. She was giving him hope for the future? Even after everything that she had done and said? She then realized her mouth was open and promptly closed it. He had tilted his head as he watched her strange behavior, but he corrected it after she corrected herself. He then said "So, I, Metal Sonic, do hereby apologize to Twilight Sparkle for having killed the leader of the tree monsters. Is that enough of an apology for you, or would you like it in writing?" She could swear he had a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

She looked down as she replied. "I cannot accept your apology." Metal cocked his head at her after she had said this. She quickly corrected her answer. "It's not because I'm better than you or anything, I just, well…" she paused for a second, unable to find the right words. Then she eventually said "If I accepted your apology, I'd be a hypocrite. You see, back up in the tower, when you were getting punched on all sides I, well, I used a power I shouldn't have. I snapped and used dark magic on the dryads, and I utterly evaporated them."

Sonic thought to himself 'Dark magic, I wonder if that had anything to do with what happened to her eyes after the blast.' He then asked "Do the effects of this 'dark magic' include smoking eyes?" She nodded and hung her head in shame, obviously ashamed of herself. "Well, it seems I must thank you for saving me." said the robot.

Twilight's head shot straight up at that. "What?" she asked, being shocked to no end. The robot looked at her and said "When that thing grabbed me, I wasn't expecting it, and then they all jumped at me, and for all my combat expertise, there are some things that even the most experienced fighters can't handle. I'm fairly certain that if you hadn't intervened when you did, I might've just been an oil slick on the ground. Therefore, I thank you for your interference."

Twilight then said "You don't understand. I only learned how to use dark magic so I could save Equestria from King Sombra, but it's like dark magic corrupts everything it touches. I've kept all this inside of me, and when you were getting hurt I let it out. What happens if one of my friends gets into trouble again, and then I lose all control? What if I hurt them, or worse…" she then started crying, small sobs leaving her lips.

Sonic, seeing she was pained by her problem, said something to her. "I understand what you are going through and wish to help." She looked up, purple eyes glimmering in the moonlight, and asked "What do you mean?" Sonic answered "Perhaps you can learn to control these outbursts, and I would be more than willing to help you do so."

She sprang up, and replied "What? I mean, how are you going to help me without knowledge of how magic works and..." Sonic interrupted her. "Irrelevant. You require help, and I am willing to give it." He then gently cupped his cold metallic hands on her face and said "Please, let me help you. It is the least I can do for everything you have done for me." Twilight, confused, said "But, I haven't done anything for you." The robot then replied "More than you know, my friend."

They stood there silently for a few moments, neither of them sure what to say or do. Eventually, Twilight pulled his hand off of her face and said "I, I'm not sure, I mean, how could you possibly help me out?" Sonic just kept looking at her and replied "I can help you control your destruction filled urges. I have a shield that can make me impervious to harm, and if you ever feel the need to attack something, just tell me, and you can unleash hell upon me."

She looked dumbfounded for a moment longer before a smile crept onto her face. She then got in close and kissed him on his cheek. The robot, having had his pressure sensors gone off from her lips on his faceplate, had his optics widened in shock. She just smiled even wider and said "You're a great guy, you know that?"

At this point, they heard Twister's voice interrupt them. "Okay you two lovebirds, I think it's about time Mrs. Sparkle went to bed, don't you?" Twilight's face went from lavender to red in 0.3 seconds flat after hearing that, and she said "Yes, um, well, goodnight guys." She then took off for her tent as fast as her legs could carry her.

Metal took a quick look back at the guard and said "Is it the guard's job to eavesdrop on people's conversations, or were you making this up as you went?" Twister feinted a look of shock on his face and replied "Who me? I wasn't dropping no eaves, honest. I just overheard a conversation while I was saying goodnight to a friend and decided to investigate."

Sonic shook his head as Twister continued. "I'll definitely say this, I'm not going to tell Captain Armor about this whole dark magic thing as you two seem to have it under control, for the time being. As for your late night 'activities' however…" He seemed to stop and ponder for a second before saying "I guess I'll let that slide too. After all, what business do I have getting into someone's affairs of the heart?"

Sonic, after seemingly sighing at Twister's assumptions, then asked "So why are you not headed to sleep? I can most assuredly watch over the camp without your help." Twister replied "Tsk tsk. You're not going to get rid of me that easily. I only need a few hour's sleep, so I'll stay up a while longer before turning in. That way, if this werehog decides to show up in the next few hours, we can kick its ass together." Metal nodded and started walking around their campsite so they could patrol it as best they could.

The rest of the night passed without incident. Twister stayed up for three hours before getting into his tent. He snored the whole time he was in bed. Metal was currently sitting on a tree branch waiting for Shadow to return. He didn't have to wait long, for he had returned to camp just after the rays of sunlight had started coming up over the treetops. He walked into camp and sat down in front of the ashes that were once the fire.

Sonic then made his presence known to him. "So, how was your midnight stroll Shadow?" he asked as he fell from the tree. Shadow didn't even turn his head as he answered "Is it your job to spy on me robot? In any case, I was out keeping this campsite of ours safe, not that you really care what happens to the beings inside of it."

Sonic, partially annoyed at the hedgehog, asked "Did you know about the werehog chasing us?" Shadow stood up. "Yes," he replied, turning to face the robot "and just so you know, it's not 'chasing us', it's following me. I know who he is, and he fortunately has much control over his situation. Unfortunately he also has control issues at times, and I promised him that I'd make sure he didn't hurt anyone when that happened. And before you ask about that little incident between you and him, he managed to get away from me for a few minutes. Don't worry though, he says he's sorry for any damage caused by him and will not do it again. Unless of course, you turn out to be a threat to us."

Metal pondered for a second. Sure that seemed like a plausible explanation for what had happened between him and the creature, but the way Shadow had said it gave him reason to suspect he wasn't telling the truth. After a moment he decided he'd let it slide this once, but sooner or later he'd find the truth in all of this.

Metal then said to Shadow "We got off on the wrong foot a couple of days ago. I want to try and patch things up as quickly as possible." Shadow's ear twitched when he said that, and he asked "And what exactly do you propose to remedy the situation?"

Metal replied "A sparring match, friendly of course, no serious injuries to be dealt out." Shadow pondered this. As much as he'd like to kick that tin can to the curb, he had to wonder why he would choose a sparring match. After voicing his question, he was answered back "I wish to get rid of the bad blood between us. I also wish to practice using the sword so I don't accidentally cut off my own arm."

Shadow nodded and conceded to the spar between themselves. They walked a ways away from the camp and stood around ten feet away from each other. Both drew their swords and waited for the other to make a move on them. For a full 20 seconds neither made a move. Then the wind blew a leaf in front of them, and both took off like a shot of lightning towards the other.

When Fluttershy had awoken, she could hear the sound of swords clanging. Wondering what it was all about, she quietly got up and walked towards where the sound was coming from. When she got out of her tent, she saw Shadow, sword in hand, attacking Sonic with much strength and speed. She could honestly say that she didn't know what was going on. She thought they had gotten to a point where they could patch things up, not attack each other again. What was she going to do?

Shadow swept at Sonic's feet with his sword. Sonic nimbly jumped over the slash and countered with a downward sweep. Shadow dodged that and went for a slice at the stomach that bounded off of Sonic's sword as he blocked. Sonic then charged and thrust at Shadow, who sidestepped the blade. He then brought his sword up to Sonic's throat, stopping the robot in his tracks.

Fluttershy tried to speak out, but she couldn't find her voice. She watched as they stood still for what seemed like an hour. Then Sonic said "An excellent move, I didn't process it until it was too late." Shadow had a smirk on his face as he replied "That's what you get for agreeing to spar with the ultimate life form." He then put his sword down and asked "Another round?" The robot nodded, and they set off again.

This time Sonic blasted off over Shadow's head and brought the sword downwards. Shadow met it with his sword as Metal continued behind him. Shadow turned quickly and knocked into Metal, throwing him a few meters away. He then performed a spinning slash homing attack, which Metal barely managed to block. As soon as Shadow landed, the robot got next to him and used his leg to trip him up. Before he could react, the robot had his sword at Shadow's neck.

Shadow looked surprised by the sudden movements, but eventually his shocked face was replaced by a smirk. He then said "Touché tin can, but you've hardly won. You just sacrificed your footing." He then sideswiped, knocking the robot down as well. They both got up fast and the battle was on again.

The battles went on like this for another hour or so. Eventually everyone had gotten up and watched the battles as they fought. Most of them watched silently, but some had begun cheering for one side or the other, except for Pinkie, who cheered for both. One of the more interesting expressions was when Twilight had gotten so excited she shouted out "Yeah! Kick his ass Metal!" After that, everyone looked at her a bit funnily. She blushed profusely and remained quiet for the rest of the battles.

Fluttershy, to be honest, was quite astonished that they had found an outlet for their hatred so quickly and cleanly. Not but three days ago they had been mortal enemies, and now they were seemingly happy when the other managed to take them down. The battles did look a bit fierce at times though, as if they really were about to strike a death blow to their opponent, but it was actually going much better than she had thought it would go.

Metal, much to his own chagrin, felt that he actually was enjoying his battle with Shadow. It was almost like nostalgia, fighting against the one being who had stopped him over and over again, and it felt good. Shadow took a swipe at his head, and he realized that he had to get his head back in the game, before he took it off.

Thinking fast, he smashed his head straight into Shadow's stomach. Shadow grunted in pain as he was knocked back. Then metal struck his sword away and pointed his own at Shadow's head, not getting in close enough to have his feet swept from under him. Shadow looked straight at the blade and then around it, seeing if there was any way out of this situation. Finding none, he finally said "Alright Metal, you got me this time, but next time I will not be so lenient."

After this, they both put their swords away and looked at the crowd that had gathered to watch them fight. Shadow then turned and looked at Sonic, asking "So, who won the most matches?" Sonic looked over at him and replied "I have no idea. I wasn't counting who had victories over whom." Shadow smiled as he said "You would say that if you knew you had lost the fight, wouldn't you?"

Metal then extended his hand, silently asking Shadow to take it. Shadow, though a bit unwilling at first, reached out and grabbed his rival's hand shaking it. He then said "Good spar, we should do it again some time." Metal nodded his head and then walked over to where the others resided.

Shadow, however, had wiped the smile off of his face and turned towards the others. "Alright, we've wasted enough time as it is. If you haven't eaten already, I suggest you find something quickly, because after breakfast, we're packing up and heading for Ponyville. How long should that take?"

Pinkie then jumped up and said "Ooh, let me! Hmm, judging by the wind speed, the Terminal velocity of a penny, the color of the flowers and that suspiciously familiar tree branch over there, I'd say… about two hours away," She beamed brightly as she was satisfied with what she had passed for math. The others just shook their heads, most of them thinking 'typical Pinkie Pie'.

Rainbow dash then dashed up into the sky and looked for a landmark of sorts. When she spotted something in the distance, she landed on the ground and said "Hey guys! Pinkie's surprisingly right. We're about a two hour's walk from Ponyville, though I could certainly reach it much faster than that." They rolled their eyes at Rainbow's boasting and got back to getting breakfast.

After a half hour, they had found themselves marching yet again towards Ponyville, all of them energized and ready to head home. Metal, remembering his discovery at the old castle, checked his power level. "52%" he muttered to himself. How was he losing power so fast? Maybe that spar had taken more form him than he had realized. Still though, even with that activity, he shouldn't be losing it that fast. Maybe there was something affecting his chaos drives, maybe it was something else. Either way, he'd have to resolve this problem as soon as he could.

After a while, there was an oddity on the path. There was a huge boulder in front of a cave's entrance next to path they were taking. "I wonder what this is all about?" wondered Tails out loud. Pinkie answered him. "Oh, that's the mirror pool. It's sort of a legend around here, it can make a clone of anyone who enters and says the right words. We sealed it up after I used it to make copies of myself and the copies made copies of themselves, and so on and so forth until Ponyville was overrun by me. Well, it wasn't exactly me, it was more simplified versions of me and…" she was stopped at this point by Twilight, who had said "He gets the point Pinkie."

After this little exchange, everything was fairly silent until the woods started to clear out. Then the ponies started chattering among themselves about all the people they were going to see. Soon, they found themselves in a yard with many features designed for holding and taking care of animals. In the middle of it was tree with several house-like features attached to it.

Fluttershy suddenly got excited and ran towards a chicken coup. You could hear her saying things like "How are you dearies?" and "Sorry for not being back when I said I would." She went around each and every one of the places where she kept her animals doing basically this, and then she ran towards her house, but before she could do anything more, Rarity said "Dear, slow down and give our new friends an introduction to your home. They haven't been here before and need to know where they are."

Fluttershy blushed a bright red before saying "Oh, um, sorry for being so rude everypony." She then cleared her throat and said "Welcome to my home. It's got a whole lot of things for taking care of animals, because that's what I do. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a lot of animals to take care of, so I'll get right on that." She then turned and walked through her front door.

As they turned to leave, they heard a male voice within her house, saying "Fluttershy! Oh, thank Celestia you came back!" They then heard Fluttershy squeak something and then pass out. Shadow was the first up the steps, followed by the rest of them. When they got up the steps, they found that a small white bunny with mobian like features was standing in the house. Most of the ponies could venture a guess at who it was, and Spike asked "Angel?" The rabbit in question took a look down to Fluttershy and then said "What, was it something I said?"


	12. Chapter 12: Revelations

When Fluttershy had regained consciousness, she tried to remember what exactly had happened to make her faint. She remembered that she had been talking to her friends first, and then she walked into the door and saw someone vaguely familiar. When she looked around the room, she saw her friends new and old around her, each expressing a form of relief.

Then she turned and saw what she had seen just before fainting. A white rabbit stood a few feet away from her, and he was about half of her new height. An impressive feat, since not but a few days ago he had barely cleared her hooves.

When she had gotten up and looked around for a second, she asked "Angel, is that really you?" The rabbit then puffed up his chest and beat it while replying "In the flesh. And before you ask, no, I do not know exactly what happened, I just woke up and 'poof', this was me."

Suddenly, Sinbad spoke up. "You, know, if it wasn't for the fact that she seems to know you, this might be really awkward, and potentially dangerous." The others seemed to agree, even if they hadn't said anything. The rabbit thought for a minute before his face blushed a bright red. He was right. They could have easily thought he was a burglar or something worse.

"Heh heh, I guess you're right, but I'm really nothing bad, honest. I've just been trying to take care of these animals for the past few days. Speaking of which, I had a little chick in here before you guys showed up, have you seen it?"

A couple of them weren't sure exactly what he had meant, but Metal Sonic looked to his left and found a baby chicken that had a splint on it's right wing. He slowly put his hand down and scooped it up. He then held it up and asked "Excuse me, is this what you are looking for?" The rabbit's face lit up as he said "Yes it is good, uh, sir, now gimme!" He then took the chicken out of his hand, and then whispered to it "Shame on you Fruedigger, how many times do I have to tell you to stay where you're at? You don't want to hurt your wing any worse do you?"

He then took the small bird into the kitchen and set it on the counter. He then grabbed the food and tried to give it to the small animal, but it walked away from his hand. Angel gave an exasperated sigh and said "Why won't you just take the food? I've seen you do it for Fluttershy a hundred times." Metal's feet clanked on the ground as he walked closer. "It is because you are not doing it correctly. Here, allow me to show you what I mean." He then scooped the food into his hand and stooped to the little chick's level. It then spotted the food and went to it. It jumped into his hand and began eating of its own volition.

Angel then asked "What are you, a chick whisperer?" The robot shook his head and replied "They just prefer to do things on their own, much like other living beings. They also scare easily, so you should take it slow and easy so they won't scare and run away."

Fluttershy then came up next to them and said "Wow, I didn't know you had so much knowledge about caring for animals. How did you know to do that?" The robot shifted his head downwards and said "It's not really important. Now, I believe we were going to head for town, so let's get out of here and leave Fluttershy to her work." After handing Fluttershy her chicken, he walked out of the door. The others followed suite, saying goodbye to their friend as they left.

When they exited the house, Sinbad asked "So, what now?" Pinkie then jumped up and said "Oh, I've got an idea! I'll be right back!" She then zipped off in a blur of pink in front of them. After a few seconds, they heard a voice from behind them. "Welcome one and all to the Ponyville tour walk! Follow your designated tour guide and keep your arms and legs inside the path at all times."

When they looked behind themselves, they found Pinkie had returned with an air stewardess's dress on her body. All of them went slack jawed at her sudden appearance behind them. Metal tried calculating how she could have done this. All his scanners told him was that it was physically impossible. That would have been his first guess.

"Okay, our first stop will be Rainbow Dash's house. Follow me everypony!" She then walked off of the path and headed through a meadow. It was not long before they found a house made of cloud suspended just above the ground. It was very intricately designed, with Greco-Roaman style pillars on all three levels of the house, a cloud carved walkway, and two rainbow waterfalls on either side of it. On top of her doorway was an enlarged version of her cutie mark, a cloud with a rainbow lightning bolt shooting out of it.

Twister whistled and said "Why miss Dash, that's quite the bachelorette pad you've got there. How do you afford it?" She smirked at him and said "Well, it helps when you're the most awesome pony in the world!" Shadow shook his head.

A slight hovering sound could be heard above them. When they looked up, they saw a rather peculiar sight. A small tortoise with a helicopter blade on its back floated down towards them. Rainbow then flew up to it, exclaiming "Tank! How are you doing buddy? Not getting into trouble I hope." The turtle shook its head, indicating that it had not.

Rainbow Dash turned towards her friends and said "Alright guys, this is my pet tortoise Tank. Whattaya guys think?" After a few seconds, Metal spoke first. "I think I misjudged the amount of technology that your races posses. If you can make personal helicopters on the backs of animals, then you must be more advanced than I had thought." Rainbow then said "What, that? That's just something Twilight gave him so he could stay in my house. She put some magic in it and gave Tank some mental control over it, so now he can fly with me."

"Fascinating." replied the robot. Twilight then said "Thank you for the compliment, but I didn't do it all myself. The design for it actually came from Pinkie." The Robot shot her a look and asked "Is that right?" Twilight then answered "It's true. She has designs for lots of different machines. Her only problem is finding a power source for them. That's where I come in. Unicorns can store magic for different uses into things that can't do things on their own. Tank's propellers won't work under their own power, but with my magic they can move as the user intends to use it."

Metal pondered this. 'This could be quite the discovery. Maybe, if I could find the right storage device, I could have an emergency backup supply of energy, just in case I run low. I just need to find something that can store enough energy.' After that he brought himself out of his thoughts,

Rainbow Dash then said "Hey guys, keep going on the tour without me. I've got some stuff to take care of here, if you don't mind me saying so." Pinkie then said "Oh, it's no trouble at all Rainbow. C'mon guys, next stop, Rarity's boutique shop." She then led them away from Rainbow's house, and she flew up into her house.

The group then walked over a bridge into a marketplace of sorts. There were all sorts of stands, each selling things from fruits to vegetables and many other things. As soon as they had entered the market however, someone shouted "Hey everyone, Twilight and her friends are back!" There was then a hustling to get to all of them.

To say the crowd was glad to see them would have been an understatement. All of the vendors and shop keepers came out of their stalls, and the ponies who were buying turned and started swarming them. Twilight and the others were literally blushing from all the attention they were getting, and trying to calm the crowd.

Sinbad was in awe now. He only got a welcome like this after he had saved a town from utter destruction. Just what had these girls done to receive such a warm welcome? It didn't really matter now. Right now, he just needed to know about the place they were currently at.

Applejack then took charge of the situation. "Hold up y'all, give us some space!" she cried. They backed off a bit and quieted down. "Thank ya kindly everypony. Now, I know y'alls confused about alls been going on 'round here, and we're more than willing to answer yer questions for ya, but not at the moment. We're showing our new friends here around town today and then we're going to go see our folks. However, we should be able to give ya your answers tomorrow, sound good?" The townsponies seemed to nod and voice their agreement. Applejack smiled and said "Alrighty then, thanks fer listenin' everypony, go back to yer businesses and we'll talk to you tomorrow."

They all then went back to wherever they had come from. Francis then remarked "You seem to have a way with crowds." She replied "Aww shucks, tain't no big deal. Herdin' folk's like herdin' cattle, just gotta show 'em who's boss." Then a new voice spoke out. "Eeyup, ye sure do sis."

Everyone turned to the new voice to see who was speaking, and the saw a red stallion with a yellow brownish mane. Applejack immediately started beaming and ran towards him, crying "Big brother!" As soon as she got to him she tackle hugged him onto the ground and said "I missed ya, ya big oaf." Her brother merely replied "Eeyup."

After that, she got up off of the ground and pulled her brother up. She then gestured to him, saying "Everyone, this is my brother Big Macintosh." He then said "Howdy." Each of them gave their gesture of greeting back to him. Applejack then asked to him "Brother, what're ya doin out here? Shouldn't ya be back at the farm with granny?" He put his hand up and said "Ya don't have to worry 'bout that Applejack, the farm's just fine. I was in the market sellin' the crop we got out yesterday. As a matter a fact, I was about to head on back to the farm fer lunch, would ya like ta join me?"

Applejack pondered the offer for a second. "Hmm, I don't know brother; do ya think I could bring these guys along with me?" she said, gesturing to the group in front of them. After a few seconds of looking at the motley crew, he answered "Eeyup."

Pinkie then said "Okie Dokie Lokie! Alright, let's get this tour moving, to the Boutique!" She then led all of them through the market again, making a beeline straight towards a towering structure, or at least as towering as you can get in a small town. It was pink and blue with hints of gold and purple, and near the top were two purple ponies secured to poles in a carousel type fashion.

Twister then said "Hey guys, I just realized I don't know what day it is. Anyone have the date?" All of them started thinking to themselves, and they realized they were as in the dark as everyone else. The only exception was Big Mac, who said "It's the 22nd of this month." As soon as he had said this, Twister suddenly got a shocked look on his face. "Wait, it's what day?!" he exclaimed. Before he could get an answer to his rhetorical question, he took off running, saying about how He was late.

Twilight yelled back at him "But wait, you're supposed to be guarding Metal Sonic!" He stopped in mid gallop, realizing she was right. He then turned back and ran straight to Twilight. He then said "Alright, Twilight, put your right hoof on your chest." She did as he said, even though she didn't really understand why she was doing it.

He then said in a somewhat rushed tone "Twilight Sparkle do you swear to uphold Equestria's laws and protect from danger from hither forth?" She had fortunately caught most of what he had said. She replied "What?" He then said "Close enough. I hereby announce that you are a deputy of Equestria, and as such you uphold the law. Here are the rules. First off, do not tell your brother that I did this or else he'll probably kill me. Second, keep an eye on that metallic whatchamacallit at all times, and DO. NOT. LET. IT. OUT. OF. YOUR. SIGHT. And finally, don't tell your brother I did this. Understand?"

She nodded, though she was admittedly confused by what had transpired. 'Alright, I'll be back as soon as I can." He then turned around, but before he left he said "Hey, don't blow anything up until I'm back, okay?" He then took off running towards Roseluck's garden, though why was anyone's guess.

When he got to Roseluck's, he saw the mare he was looking for, with the red hair and cream colored skin. She noticed him coming and said "Well hello there, what can I do for you fine sir?" He said "Hi, uh, can I have a couple of bouquets made up?" She smiled at him. "Sure, what would you like?" He then replied "Well, for one I'd like some white carnations around a red rose, and for the other, I'd like the color blue, doesn't really matter what you use." She then said "Alright sir, it'll take me a while to get your bouquets done though." He replied "Don't worry about it. At this point, I've got all the time in the world."

When Twister had left, they continued to the Carousel Boutique. As soon as they got up to it, the door opened and out came a white filly with purple and pink hair. Rarity then exclaimed "Sweetie Belle!" and ran straight for her. "Big sister!" exclaimed the filly. As soon as they met, they gave each other a gigantic hug. None of the others dared to break this heartwarming moment, staying completely silent through the display.

When Sweetie Belle finally let her sister go, she finally took a look at the people that had gathered around them. To say they were an odd group was understating it a bit. There were creatures she hadn't seen before and even a being covered from head to toe in metal. So naturally, she asked "Wow, who are you guys?"

Each of them gave their responses with a gesture and a name, Sinbad gave a courteous bow, Metal nodded his head, Tails put his hand up and waved, Percival inclined her head, and Shadow merely looked down at her. After their introductions, Rarity said "Well sister, these are friends of mine, and we're on another quest to save the world from immense peril." The little sister looked at each of them and said "Really? That's awesome! So what can you guys do? Are you a team? Do you make silly poses to boost morale and stuff?"

Sinbad chuckled before answering "We're less a team than a group of people that got together and said 'Hey, let's get together and save the world.' As for what we can do, that's a demonstration for another time, don't you think?" The others nodded at what he had said, agreeing wholeheartedly.

"Say, we were going to head over to Applejack's for lunch, would you like to join us?" asked Rarity. Sweetie Belle's face lit up as she answered "Would I? YES!" she then ran over to where the farm was, only to be stopped when Pinkie Pie spoke to her. "Now now young filly, please slow down a moment while the tour gets under way." Sweetie Belle nodded and waited for the rest of the group.

After a minute of walking, Sweetie Belle found herself next to Metal Sonic. Curious as to what he was covered in, she asked "I've never seen any kind of armor like that. What's it made out of Mr. Sonic?"

The robot looked at her for a second before wondering how he was going to tell her what he was. He thought for a moment before answering "This isn't exactly armor. A much more apt description would be that it's my body." She was obviously confused by what he said.

Twilight tried to clear up the girl's confusion. "What he means is that, in the most basic of terms, he's not alive like us." Her eyes turned to the size of oranges. "What?! If he's not alive, then what in Equestria is he?" Twilight then realized that might not have been the best thing to say. She thought quickly to say something to remedy this situation. "No, you see, he's uh, kinda like a, uh…"

Metal then stepped back into the conversation. "Tell me, do you have any toys that can move on their own?" She nodded at him. "I am basically like that, except I have the thought processes of a man."

Her face went from shock to interest in a second. "Really? How can you think like a man? Do you have a stallion's brain in your head?" Everyone stopped and looked at her, shocked that she said that. Nobody knew how Metal was going to take it.

Suddenly, and to everyone's surprise, he started chuckling. He then said "An amusingly morbid thought, but I do not have a brain, in that sense. In essence it's a bunch of complicated machinery and programs that give me a semblance of free thought. Do you understand what I'm saying?" She sort of thought about what he had said for a second before answering "Ahhh, no, not really." Metal replied "Well, maybe when you're older…"

As they had been talking they resumed their short walk to the Apple family farm. It wasn't long before they had reached their destination, a red barn with fencing around the outside. To its left was a carrot looking house, and as they looked upon this sight, Sinbad thought to himself sarcastically 'I wonder what's grown in front of **that** house.'

No sooner had they gotten through the entrance gate, a small yellow coated filly ran out to meet them. Applejack and Big Mac made their way to the front of the group. The little filly had a huge smile on her face as soon as she saw her "Big sister!" Applejack responded by saying "Apple Bloom!" they ran at each other and gave each other a hug. Apple Bloom then exclaimed "I missed you so much Applejack." The eldest sister replied "I did too sis, I did too."

It wasn't long before she noticed the group behind her big sister. It also wasn't long before they had to introduce her to the group, at which point she, like Sweetie Belle, found herself fixated on the robot. But before she could ask him any questions, they heard an elderly voice call out "Hey young'uns, time fer lunch!" When they looked to where the voice had come from, they saw an elderly mare with wrinkled green skin and an old grey mane.

Applejack then ran up to her and said "Hi Granny!" The elder moved, though slowly, towards her granddaughter. "Little Applejack, welcome back home." They both gave each other a hug. After that was done, Granny Smith said "Well little'un, do you want some lunch with yer family?" Applejack shook her head and said "Of course granny, but, well, I've got a whole mess of friends here who were wantin' a few of your vittles. I hope you don't mind…"

Granny looked back at the group that was behind her granddaughter, and after looking for a minute, she finally said "Don't worry yer pretty little head 'bout that, I can always make some more. It's no trouble at all; now go get some places fer yer guests to sit." After that, she walked back into the house, most likely to prepare for the horde of guests that had just arrived. Applejack then got back to her group, saying "Alright everyone, let's get a few tables out for lunch." And so they did.

Rainbow Dash wasn't proud of herself for not having told her friends the entire truth. It wasn't as if she didn't have things to do, that was true. The thing was she couldn't do it at her house. With everything that had happened, she needed to talk to someone, someone that truly understood her. This someone wasn't anywhere near Ponyville, but she knew exactly where she'd be. It was an hour's flight from her house, headed towards Canterlot. She was almost there; she just had a few miles to go…

When the victuals had been finished, everyone sat down to eat, the only exception being Metal Sonic. When Granny saw that he hadn't sat down, she asked "Son, all that standin' around in that piece of heavy metal has to be exhausting. Take a seat and eat somethin'." Metal merely said "I thank you for your generosity, but I am perfectly fine as I am and will therefore decline your request." She looked at him strangely but said nothing.

Apple Bloom looked at her older sister for a moment. Just how did she get in the middle of this group anyway? She looked at all of these strange creatures that surrounded her, and she wondered where they had come from. She had seen creatures like these when she had been helping Fluttershy with the animals; however, they were much smaller versions of these people.

She could tell that Percival was a cat of sorts, and that Tails was a fox or a dog. The others had her confused though. They had spikes on the back of their heads, which meant they could be a number of things, like porcupines or hedgehogs, or a number of other things. She'd have to ask them about that later.

As for the creature in metal, her friend Sweetie Belle had told her that he was a robot, and had even tried to explain what she had meant by that. She honestly wasn't sure what exactly she meant, and figured she'd ask this 'Metal Sonic' about it later. As for now, she was hungry and she was going to eat her fill.

It wasn't long now, only half a mile before she reached her destination. She remembered how her father had taken her to see her after most of the important events in her life. She had gone to see her without her father of course, just to chat and maybe even get some friendly advice.

And if ever there was a time for advice, that time was now. Not only had their entire world changed, which was a giant surprise in and of itself, but she had met somepony, a stallion that she truly liked, to a point where she felt like she had something in her stomach when she looked at him. At any rate, asking her for advice in this instant might not be a bad idea.

Suddenly she stopped. She realized she was right in front of where she needed to be. She looked up and saw the name 'Vanhoover Cemetery III' on the gate. Cloudsdale isn't the only place that holds Pegasi in the sky, there are several sky cities that hold them, Vanhoover being the second most famous of them, mostly because it was the only city that moved around on it's own. Unfortunately, cemeteries cannot be built on clouds, so they buried their residents and anyone who wished to be buried in one of several cemeteries, this one being the third and youngest of them.

Anypony who knew Rainbow Dash would be asking 'why? Why would she go there? Who was she going to meet?' To most outward appearances, the only people she could talk to couldn't answer back. But there was one who was different, for her at least. She knew exactly where she needed to go and, walking confidently, arrived in front of a headstone. She took one look at it and, with a small smile on her face, said "Hi mom. It's been a while hasn't it?"

Charging Nimbus was her mother's name, and she was once the most famous Wonderbolt in all of Equestria. She was one of the most daring of their number, and supposedly used dragons and other live creatures during shows, though those were supposedly only for royalty. She died when Rainbow was not more than one year old, and according to her father, not a single unicorn could find anything wrong with her before she died of a heart attack. No pony knew what could have caused it.

Her father's name, oddly enough, was Cloud Chaser. He had first met her back when they were in flight school together, though at the time he was much more interested in learning flight than finding love. He met her again after she had become a Wonderbolt, and found himself instantly smitten.

Long story short, they eventually got together and had the child that is now Rainbow Dash (her father got to pick the name after winning a bet). After she had died, her husband had took her daughter to her grave every once in a while, to give her updates on her daughter's life. She had gone to see her mother after each of the big moments in her life, like getting her cutie mark or becoming the Element of Loyalty. She also asked her for advice when she needed it. She was a terrific listener after all.

Her mother didn't reply, not in the physical sense at least, but in her very soul she knew exactly how her mother would reply. It was something she couldn't explain really, but there was something that told her what she would say in reply.

She replied to the greeting as per usual. Rainbow then said "It's good to see you too mom. I haven't really spoken to you since after Shining Armor's wedding to Princess Cadance, and I apologize for that." The reply that came to that was something akin to 'Don't worry about it kiddo, you don't have to come around and tell me what happens every day.'

She smiled and said "I know mom, but I do feel bad about the scarcity of our talks, and there's a lot of news I need to tell you." She answered 'Well, why don't you go on and tell me so that I'm in the know anyway?' Rainbow Dash then answered "Okay, so since the last we talked…"

The meal over at Sweet Apple Acres had just finished. Eager to restart the tour, whose next stop was at Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie urged them to move forward quickly. Applejack said "You guys can go on ahead, I'll be here cleanin' up and helpin' out on the farm. If'n y'all need me just let me know and I'll meet ya." Twilight replied "Okay, we'll see you later Applejack." After that, they left for town.

The walk took a bit longer than expected as Twilight's group was stopped constantly by ponies wanting answers to their questions about what was going on, so they told them that they intended to make a statement tomorrow. Eventually, they found themselves in front of the town hall, and decided to pay the Mayor a visit.

"… and that's when I decided to come and see you. So that's the story from then to now."

said Rainbow Dash. In her mind, her mother replied 'That's quite the story. Still though, I can't help thinking that you still want to talk about something.' Dash smiled. "I can't put one over on you mom." She then took a seat next to her mother's grave and said "Mom, I've met somepony. A very interesting somepony by the name of Twister Tail."

Her mother answered 'Ah, the guard. What is it about mares and colts in uniform?' At this, Dash said "Mom! I can't believe you'd think I was that shallow. Besides, I think it's something more personal than that."

She then looked down and said "Whenever I see him I get this feeling in my gut, like there's something fluttering around in there. I don't seem to get too nervous about talking to him though, he and I like to chat quite a bit with ourselves and others. He's a great guy too, always trying to get people to laugh, ready to talk to strangers, ready to protect others, and handsome to boot. I don't really know what it is mom, but I think… no… I **know** that there's something in here that I'm feeling for him. I just wish I knew more about it. I guess that's the only other reason I came down here for anyway."

Her mother replied 'Well my dear daughter, I can't help you there. Whether you like this colt or not is something you're going to have to figure out on your own. Still, it's obvious that you want to spend more time with him, so just do that and decide how deep your feelings run later. You're still young, don't rush into this, you've got plenty of time.'

Before she could thank her mother for her advice, she heard something coming from her left side. 'Odd,' she thought to herself, 'there's no one here usually. I wonder who it could be?" With her curiosity getting the better of her, she snuck over to her left side behind a few of the graves to see who it was.

When she did get a look, at first all she saw was the back of his head, which held a chestnut mane. She then moved to the side and saw that he was between two graves, and each had a bouquet in front of them. She saw that the stranger was on his knees and had his head bowed down. She decided to get closer.

She then heard a familiar voice as he said "…pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen." He then made a motion with is right hand and after this got up. Dash was almost shocked, for in front of her was the form of her new perhaps more than friend Twister Tail. 'What is _he_ doing here?' she thought.

It wasn't long before she got her answer. After he had finished his prayer, he said "Hi mom, hi dad, how've you guys been doing?" This stopped her dead in her tracks. She realized that he was here for the same reason she was. She thought to herself 'He lost _**both**_ of his parents?! Oh man, I think, I think, I don't know what to think…' She then felt a tear run down her cheek as she thought about it, but she quickly regained her composure as she looked back to the scene.

Twister listened to his parents tell him that everything was good where they were, and that they couldn't wait to speak face to face again. He replied "I know mom, but I'd like to wait a bit longer before I do that. Well, let me tell you, it's certainly been an eventful year, and an even more eventful week. I mean, first I get my job as a guard, then uncle dearest kicks me out of his house, the changelings attack Canterlot, King Sombra returns and gets subsequently defeated, and then Discord escapes again and a couple of new worlds become a part of our own, changing our world in the process. Got a headache yet? Cause I know I do."

His mother responded 'Yes dear, we saw it all from up here, and it seems dreadfully strange don't you think? I mean, why would anypony do something like that?' He responded "I don't know mom, I guess someone must have wanted it to happen though, it's just a matter of finding out who it was."

Rainbow Dash noticed that he was shuffling his feet on the grass. He then turned around towards her. Thinking quickly, she got behind a nearby tree and waited for what he was about to say. After a few seconds, he said "Well, that's not the only reason I came out here." He then started scratching the back of his head. "You see guys, I've met someone…"

His mother then said 'Oh, would you look at that? Our son's all grown up. I never thought I'd see the day.' His father then said 'Well, what's she like son? Unless she's a he, which is totally fine by the way.' He suddenly went all red and said "DAD! I'm not that kind of stallion!" He then took a look around as he had said that last part a little too loudly. When he was certain none had heard his little outburst, he returned to talk to them.

"Sorry about that, but I wasn't expecting you to say that. Now, just so that you know, she's a wonderful mare. She's funny, adventurous, a blast to be around, and a great gal all around." His father then said 'Well, how long have you known her?' He then sort of blushed as he replied "Well, a few days actually." He could hear her mothers' voice say "A few days? And just how do you know she's the one young man?"

As he replied to this question, Rainbow Dash was fuming. He had met someone already, and had been just stringing her along this whole time? What a jerk! What a total bucking twat! She couldn't believe she thought she was in love with that selfish pig! What she ought to do is jump out and hit him in his smug face, but that outcome wasn't satisfying enough. No, she would find out who this other girl was and tell her that he had been unfaithful. _Yes_, that would get him back for being a pompous jackass. So, she returned to listening to him.

"… and she's got a big group of friends too, so you have to know that she's not unfriendly. Do I need to keep going?" His mother then said "Even if she isn't unfriendly, how do you know she won't leave you?" He replied "For your information, she just so happens to be the Element of Loyalty, so I doubt she's as fickle as you claim."

Now Rainbow Dash felt embarrassed. She was this 'other woman' she was worried about? It was official; she had feelings for the colt. And now it was obvious that he had feelings for her, though she had to wonder why he hadn't said anything.

As if to answer her unspoken question, he said "It's not really that simple. I mean, if I said something to the effect of 'hey babe, wanna go on a date?' she'd probably think I was a creep or something. I don't want to ruin any sort of relationship I might have with her, even if it ends up just being a friendship." It was at this point that Rainbow Dash walked out from behind the tree.

"Is that what you really think Twister?" asked a very familiar voice. Shocked, he slowly turned around and saw Rainbow Dash behind him. His face turned a bright red color as he sputtered out "R-Rainbow Dash! W-wh-what a nice surprise to see you here! I wasn't talking to myself, honest I…" He trailed off, looked to the ground and finally asked "How long have you been listening?" She looked at him with a serious expression and said "Long enough."

He then said "Alright, so I guess I'll have to introduce you to my parents then. Rainbow Dash, this is my mother Meteor Shower, and this is my father Lightning Tail. Say hi to Ms. Dash guys." He didn't know exactly how she would react to this, but as long as she had him cornered he might as well tell her the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Truth be told, she wasn't expecting her to say "Hello Mr. and Mrs. Tail, it's nice to meet you." He then said "You seem to be taking the whole 'I talk to dead people' thing well. By the way, why are you here? You haven't been spying on me have you?"

She shook her head and said "No, I came here for someone else. I can take you to her if you'd like." Curious, he nodded and followed her away a few feet, before being greeted by another grave. "Twister Tail, this is my mother Charging Nimbus, mom, this is Twister Tail. Say hi you two." When she looked back at Twister, all she saw was a stallion with a gaping mouth.

"Don't stare Twister, it's not polite." she said. He replied by saying "Oh. My. God. Is that really the most famous Wonderbolt that is your mother?" She nodded her head. He then did something she hadn't expected. He fainted straight away onto the ground. He also got up after only a minute and said "Wow, the world's a whole lot smaller than before." She asked him "What do you mean by that?"

He replied "Remember when I said that I wanted to be a wonderbolt?" She nodded. "Well, that all started after my parents took me to a show featuring your mother when I was three years old. Immediately after that, I tried everything I could think of to get me faster and more maneuverable so I could even hold a candle to your mother. In the end I became a guard but, I mean, to be here, with the daughter of my idol? Wow, just, wow."

After a second he said "Well, now that my little fangirl moment is over, I know that you heard my feelings for you. So, what do you say?" She hadn't thought about it, but now that she did, she realized that she held all the power in this situation. If she could have smiled evilly without revealing it to him, she would have. But as it was she merely put on a thinking pose and walked toward him with a sway in her hips, saying "Hmm, I don't know. Don't get me wrong, I like you more than most stallions, but what makes you think that I _want_ to be with you?"

Boy, when she asked a question she certainly didn't mess around. He tried to think of a reason to get her to be with him, but the best he could think up was "Well, I don't think you want to be with me, I just want to go out a bit, see what happens. If you still don't like me enough to escalate the relationship, I'm fine with that. Just try it, that's all I'm asking." He then quickly added "Unless you don't want to of course, that's fine too."

After yet another 'thoughtful' expression on her face, she said "Alright, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt at least. Tell you what, let's set up a lunch date sometime later, and we'll see how it goes. Sound good lover-boy?" She asked with a giant grin on her face. His reply was "Yeah that sounds great!" After that, they headed back for Ponyville. And thus ends this tale of graveyard revelations and relationships.

After the meeting with the mayor, it was decided that there was to be a meeting at ten o'clock tomorrow to discuss these strange happenings to the townsfolk. After that, the Ponyville tour continued on its way towards Sugarcube Corner. The building itself looked as if it were a gingerbread house, perhaps the best tasting one anyone could want. It icining trim, a cupcake tower with Birthday candle like structures on the top. Even the wind catcher had its part, holding what looked like a candy cane.

Unfortunately, the shop was closed when they got there, with a sign that said 'We're sorry, closed due to large order, will be back as shortly as possible.' Pinkie let out a small sigh and said "Oh man, if only I could have gotten here sooner, maybe the cakes would still be here." She then perked back up and said "Oh well, they'll be back later. Onward comrades, to our final destination, The Golden Oaks Library!"

The Golden Oaks Library {Ponyville Branch} was, as its name implied, held within a giant oak tree. It looked like a combination of a two story building and a tree house. When they did get there, they immediately entered. Twilight then walked into the center and said "Welcome to my home. As you can see, there are so many books in here that I could probably be prepared for any situation just by grabbing the right book and reading about the subject. I live upstairs in my bedroom, and there's a basement full of scientific equipment downstairs. And that's the end of our tour, what do you guys think of ponyville?"

Everyone in the room agreed that it seemed like a fantastic place to live, even if a few mumbled that it was an utterly ridiculous place to be. The only one who hadn't said anything was Metal Sonic, who asked "How did ponies build these spectacular buildings without hands?" And thus began a conversation that Pinkie Pie asked me to redact for the sake of making this story at least a little smaller than I would have with the conversation.

Snivlley thoroughly disliked his job. It wasn't the fact that his job was bad, oh no, that wasn't it at all. His problem was that his boss always had quite the temper when things hadn't gone his way, and there was much of this plan that hadn't gone accordingly. He just hoped that his Uncle would understand just this once. Gulping, he prepared himself for whatever he might face next, and opened the door.

When it had opened, the first thing he saw above him was a chair in front of several monitors. They were only to this particular city however, for he could not get a satellite connection and see what was happening in the others. Snivelly then said "U-uncle? I checked out the problem as you have asked." A deep gravelly voice said "Yes Snivelly, what exactly did you find?"

He found the confidence to speak again. "As you said, those consecutive chaos controls from the two universes have drained our robots chaos drives. Though, it seems they are having trouble regaining and maintaining the energy for themselves, and I can't figure that one out, unless of course there's some sort of monster out there that feeds on chaos." The voice laughed and said "My dear nephew, you needn't worry about that, the only one who feeds on chaos here is _me_." Snivelly gulped again, he hated it when his uncle got like this.

The beings chair turned around, and you partially see the shadow of a rotund man. He said "In all seriousness though, I don't like variables. Chess is a game where you can see all the pieces, and until I can do that, I won't be able to play properly. I suppose our chaos power problem is also why our satellites are down?" He nodded, afraid to speak again.

The being then had a thoughtful expression on his face for a moment, before he said "Snivelly, I want you to fix our, minor setback as quickly as we can. We want to give our enemies as little advantage as we can, and that requires that you fix this as quickly as possible. I didn't merge these universes together just so that my plan would fall apart at incompetent hands. Do I make myself _clear_?" Snivelly nodded and said "Yes Emperor Robotonik, right away!" He left as swiftly as possible. The mad doctor simply swiveled his chair back and said "A minor setback. Nothing more."


	13. Chapter 13: A Night of Self Discovery

The next question any of the group thought to ask was "What now?" They had nowhere to stay in the town as of yet, mainly because Ponyville didn't have a hotel. Lady Nimue hadn't given them any direction as to where they needed to go either.

Twilight then said "Well, I suppose we need somewhere for you guys to stay. Spike and I will call the others here and then we can see where everypony's going to go." Shadow held up his hand and said "Don't even bother for me, I'm going to sleep in the forest. Can't be too sure that something won't try to attack us while we aren't looking." Before anyone could protest, Shadow had already run out the door, presumably into the woods.

Santa Fuega then asked "I wonder what's eating him?" Sinbad shook his head and replied "He probably just wants an excuse to get away from us. I can't say I'm always the most social person, but some people need to be alone more than others, you know what I mean?" The others nodded because it made sense to them.

After sending out letters to each of her friends, Twilight went upstairs to her room. It had been a long road to get here, and she was glad she was back at home. All of her books felt like old friends, coming to welcome her back home. She nonchalantly tossed her knapsack onto her bed and took a look around.

Thinking back, she was glad that Celestia had given her the library when she first arrived. It gave her someplace familiar to be in a place entirely new to her. It had helped her transition from a giant grand castle to a small town.

Then her thoughts moved to Celestia. The princess had been her mentor ever since she had demonstrated her raw magical prowess to the ponies inducting students to the academy of magic. She had been a role model to her even longer than that. She remembered all of the magic lessons she had gotten from her teacher, and they filled her heart with joy.

It was hard for her to think of her not being there for her, but that was what was happening right now. Celestia was missing and nopony knew where she was. It was a mystery. Where could she have gone? She wouldn't just leave and take her sister with her without warning, would she? It just didn't seem to be like her. Did something happen when the universes converged? Did she merge with some other being? So many questions to answer, so few answers to give. Maybe she needed a quick rest. Deciding that to be a good idea, she walked straight over to her bed…

…and stopped when she saw Princess Luna's diary next to her open knapsack. She had completely forgotten that she even had it! Her mind raced over what she had thought the first time she had found it. It was dangerous, that wasn't the way to treat a friend, it was the only way to find out any secrets she had. These thoughts continued in a circuitous route through her mind, tearing at her center. It was a true quandary on her part.

Was it morally right to go through her belongings? She wouldn't like it if someone else did that to her. 'Who says you have to tell her?' asked her dark voice, as she so called it. 'Luna would never have to know.' That wasn't the point. She'd know that she'd done it to her, and she doubted she'd be able to bear it. There had to be some way to resolve this, but how?

Metal Sonic had taken to reading the titles of the books on Twilight's shelves. It was amazing how many books there were. Some of the titles were _201 Magical Herbs and Spices,_ _The Art and Science of Potion Making_ (By Severus Snake), _Daring Doo and the Child of Tartarus_, _Fallout Equestria_, and Lewis Carrot's _Monsters of Equestria: A Practical Guide_. But there was one book in particular that stood out, one called _Modern Mechanics: An up to Date Guide to Pony, Pegasus, and Unicorn Technology_. He quickly pulled it off of the shelf and browsed through the contents.

What he had found astonished him. Ponies had the amount of mechanical knowhow to build jackhammers, microphones, seismographs, fans, non wood burning stoves, light-bulbs, cameras, watches, water heaters, hair dryers, and most impressively giant cranes. It seemed that they had the technology to rival the modern world, only seemingly limited by knowledge of power sources.

For instance, anything that seemed to run on electricity instead ran on a magically charged battery that would get refilled about every month or so, for a small fee of course. The technological advancements made the ponies lives that much easier. However, it seemed that while they could make all of these things, they didn't seem to be able to make much in the way of automobiles or airplanes. If he had to guess though, that was probably because they preferred walking and flying everywhere with only the help of other beings. No one could say ponies didn't take care of their bodies, that was for sure.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Tails got to it first and opened up the door, finding Applejack and Applebloom together and welcomed them in. A good welcoming hello was given all around. Applebloom walked over to her friend and fellow crusader Sweetie Belle. They both walked over toward their new favorite curiosity, the intelligent robot.

When they saw it reading a book entitled _Modern Mechanics _they were confused. Their toys couldn't read, so why could this thing? Sweetie decided to ask him. "So Mr. Metal, how exactly do you read books, if you're like a toy and aren't like ponies or griffons or other things like that?" He looked down at the little filly and thought for a moment on how to explain it.

"Well Ms. Belle, it's true that I do have more in common with a toy than a pony or griffon. But you see, I was made to be about as smart as one. I can't exactly explain how I can read and learn however without going over your head. Just understand that that was the way I was made." Sweetie Belle understood that because she remembered what he had said earlier that she could understand barely a word of. Applebloom felt a bit more deterred because she hadn't heard exactly what he had said to Sweetie Belle, but she didn't question it.

Then there was another knock on the door, which Applejack opened up and found Fluttershy behind it. They greeted her happily, and she walked through the door. She saw every one of her new friends here, with exception of Shadow. Curious, she asked "Um, excuse me, I don't want to be a bother, but, uh, where is Shadow?"

Sinbad answered her question, saying "He took off a while ago, said that he'd be sleeping in the forest." That wasn't what she had wanted to hear. She knew that Shadow wasn't exactly the most social person in the group, but this was ridiculous. Why couldn't he stay with any of the rest of them? Had he truly suffered so much that he wished to stay away from them? From her? There had to be a reason he stayed away from them.

She simply replied "Oh, okay." and walked off. Sinbad took one look at that girl and thought to himself 'Boy is that girl smitten.' He knew that if he were to ask her if she was attracted to Shadow, she'd blush and stutter before finally saying yes. Why, she was almost as bad as he was back when he had first met Rannah all those years ago.

Spike realized it had been quite a while since he had seen Twilight. The last time he had seen her was when she had went up to her room, so he decided to check up on her. When he entered her room, she was pacing up and down the room, certainly anxious about something. In her hands was a book, but he couldn't tell which book it was. 'Maybe it's something to calm her nerves.' he thought to himself.

He walked into the room and asked "Hey Twilight, are you alright?" She gasped and suddenly dropped the book, but almost immediately she picked it back up again. Hiding the book behind her back, she exclaimed "Spike! What a surprise, erm, what are you doing in here?"

He raised an eyebrow at her strange behavior before saying "I came up here to check on you. I haven't seen you since we sent those letters to our friends. Are you alright?" Twilight's voice raised a few octaves. "I'm fine! What makes you think I'm anything but?" Spike looked at her strangely but said "Fluttershy, Applejack and Applebloom are downstairs, so that you know. I'll head back downstairs now." He then left her room.

Twilight then took the book from behind her back and looked at it again. 'That was too close, he almost caught us.' said her dark side. Then her other, more familiar sounding side, or 'miss goody four hooves' as her dark side called her, spoke out. 'Perhaps he should have caught us. This book is causing us enough problems as it is. I say we put it away where we can keep it until Princess Luna returns.'

Twilight agreed with her good voice. This was getting out of hand. She had to stop thinking about what was in that book and focus on what was happening right now. Thinking quickly, she put the book up on the highest shelf of her room and walked through the door, heading down to see her friends.

Applejack was the first to see Twilight come down from her room. She called to her and walked to the foot of her staircase, saying "I suppose ya called us here so we could find a home for these here critters?" Twilight nodded her head. "Have ya made any descisions about 'em?"

Twilight answered "No, we figured we'd wait until all of us were here. By the way, have you heard any news about the town?" Applejack looked at her friend and answered "Well, it seems like the Princesses aren't the only ones missin' from Equstria. Noponie's been able to find Octavia or Vinyl Scratch around here, and some visitin' wonderbolts said they couldn't find Soarin either. I wonder where the hay they could be?"

Twilight shook her head and said "I don't know, but if more than just the princesses have disappeared, it makes me wonder if this isn't just a side affect of the chaos controls that brought our worlds together in the first place." She then thought for a moment before saying "Spike, take a letter to my brother." Spike quickly grabbed the quill pen and a scroll for writing.

Twilight cleared her throat before she said "_Dear b.b.b.f.f. Shining Armor, How are you doing? How goes your search for the Princesses? And have you heard anything about any other missing ponies? I would really like to know if you have because it might prove helpful in finding out what's happened to the princesses. Sincerely, Your sister Twilight_." Spike then took the scroll and sent it off to her brother.

It was at this point that both Rainbow Dash and Twister Tail walked into the bustling library. Their friends greeted them both very warmly, and all greetings were returned in kind. When they had finished their greetings, Rainbow Dash said "Right, well let's get down to business shall we?" Applejack shook her head and said "Uh uh sugarcube, we're waitin' for word from Twiley's brother on the search for the princesses, so we're gonna have to wait for a while." Dash and Twister both nodded.

Suddenly, Applebloom said "Hey, you guys don't mind if we go get Scootaloo do you?" Rarity and Applejack nodded in consent. "Awesome! She's gonna be so jealous when she finds out that we got to meet some of Rainbow Dash's new badass friends! Let's go!" Before either sister could reprimand them for their language, they ran out the door.

Suddenly, Spike burped up some green fire, and a letter along with it. Twilight opened it up and read the contents. _"Dear l.s.b.f.f. Twilight, I've been doing fine, thank you for asking. Our search for the princesses has sent my men to the far reaches of the map, to places that we haven't ever seen in our world, and we still haven't found them. I'm beginning to suspect that they might not even be on this planet anymore. As for any other missing ponies, a few of my men have gone missing along with a few nobles and others. It's not just ponies either. Some of my men got to Griffinhiem and asked about the princesses there. It seems that some of their people are missing too. It does seem rather suspicious when you think about it. As for some good news, your sister in law Cadance is safe in the Crystal Empire, right where I left her. One thing before I send this off, the train tracks that have connected Equestria have become disconnected, probably due to the fact that our world has grown so much in the past few days. Our Engineers are solving this as I write. I look forward to seeing you again. Sincerely, your brother Shining Armor." _

The group absorbed this information as it came to them. People had gone missing all over the globe and there was no current explanation. Some of them thought that it had to do with the interdimensional shift, perhaps a sort of displacement. Others thought that the princesses had been kidnapped, and the other disappearances were covering up for that. Pinkie was half expecting Lady Nimue to materialize in the middle of the room and give them exposition, as she was wont to do.

With no such exposition forthcoming, Twilight decided to get back to the matter at hand. "Alright everypony, we need to decide where our new friends will be staying. Does anyone have any ideas?" Several of them thought for a while before saying anything.

Finally, Rarity spoke up. "Well darling, I have two spare rooms that I could give our friends, if they wouldn't mind the company." None objected to her offer. "Splendid! I can't wait to use my guest rooms! It's been far too long since I had company, oooh, it will be so much fun!" Some of them made faces that said 'Oookaaaay. So, who's going to be staying with her?'

Applejack then said "Well, I may not have any fancy 'guest rooms' like the rest of y'all, but anyone who wants can stay in the family barn. It may not be the best choice y'all got, but sleepin' on hay's better 'n sleepin' on rocks." This offer was a tough one indeed, but one seemed to think of taking it up at least.

Pinkie then said "Sorry guys, but I can't offer any rooms to you. The cakes don't have any rooms that they aren't currently using, what with their businesses and all. However, if you don't mind me pulling something from another dimension, I could get you a piece of luggage that is enchanted with multiple rooms! As a matter of fact, I'll get one right now!" Before she could do anything however, Metal stepped in and said "No offence meant Pinkie, but since reality's been messed with so recently, do you really think it's a good idea to mess with reality just to bring in one trunk?" Pinkie thought for a second before saying "Oh, you're right. Oh well, I guess I'll get one later."

Rainbow Dash then asked "Say Twister, would you like to stay with me up in my cloud house?" He answered "I'd love to Dash, but in case you've forgotten, I'm still guarding a prisoner over here, and unless robots can walk on clouds, I don't think that's a viable option." She lowered her head, slightly ashamed at herself for forgetting, slightly sad he couldn't stay at her house.

Twilight then said "I could keep Metal here in the library if that's alright with you two." Sonic then said "I don't think that the guard would like that very much. This place is hardly a prison, and I could easily escape it without much effort. I could also hypothetically burn it down and survive, allowing me to escape from the ashes."

Twilight looked at the autonomaton in shock. She then said "You couldn't, you wouldn't! Would you?" He then tilted his head and looked at her, and then, after straightening his head, began rubbing his fingers on his chin, as if he were actually contemplating the idea. Twister, who had realized that he had been mostly joking, said "Hey, lay off the poor librarian would you? She was just offering you some hospitality, no need to burn the library down, right?"

The robot nodded and said "I am sorry. I did not mean for my joke to have such a negative effect." Twilight then gave an incredulous glare and said "A joke? A joke?! Who in their right mind thinks that burning down a library is a joke!?" She then made a throaty noise and stormed out of the door. It was five minutes before she finally returned to her friends. "The offer to let you stay still stands, provided you don't burn or plan on burning down the library. Do I have your solemn oath?" The robot nodded in response.

It was then that Fuega spoke up. "Just how many rooms do you have miss Rarity?" Rarity replied "I have two spare rooms that I can use. I just wish I had enough room for everyone else too. Oh well, two of you can stay with me at any rate." Fuega then said "I believe I will stay with you. Does anyone else wish to join me?"

No one spoke for a small time, until Percival answered "Well I wouldn't mind staying with you, as long as you do not mind my company." Santa shook her head as she said "Ma'am, it would be an honor to have you join me, as long as lady Rarity permits it." Rarity nodded in response.

It was then that Twilight asked "Say Fluttershy, don't you have an extra room?" Fluttershy suddenly shot up from her seating position. She then stuttered out "Uh, well, you see, I do have an extra room, but there are animals constantly going through it at all hours of the day and night, and, I just wouldn't want any of you to not have a good night's sleep. I'm sorry." she added sadly. Twilight then replied "Its okay, we all understand."

Tails then asked a question. "Are there any other places we can stay? It's not that I would mind sleeping in a barn; I used to do it all the time, but I want to know my options before I make a decision." Twilight thought for a minute before answering "Well, I wouldn't go around town asking for a place to stay today, the townsponies barely know you guys. If you to stay somewhere else tomorrow you can ask then."

Tails nodded and said "Alright then, I guess Francis and I will sleep in the barn, if that's alright with you." Francis muttered, "s' fine by me I guess." and Applejack said "Alrighty partner, you've got yerself a bed n' breakfast." Sinbad then chimed in. "Does that deal include me too?" Applejack gave him an incredulous look before saying "Ah guess you can stay, long as ya keep yer hands to yerself." He nodded with a smirk attached.

Looking around the room, Twilight realized they all had places to stay and, after clearing her throat said "Alright, that takes care of our lodging problem. Before we go or do anything else, is there anything we have forgotten or neglected?" None of the others seemed to have anything else to say, so Twilight then said "Alright, this meeting is adjourned. You are now free to do as you wish."

All of them separated at that point to set up their beds for that night. This left Twister, Twilight Spike and Sonic back in the library. Twilight walked back up to her room, saying something about 'stupid robots' and 'try to burn down my library.' Spike followed soon after. Twister looked at his metallic friend and said "Dude, don't you know that the first rule of dating a librarian is to never ever threaten to burn the library? Seriously, I thought you'd be smarter than that."

The robot in question replied "I'm sorry, when I said that I didn't take into calculation how she would feel about what I said and did. And besides that, I was telling the truth. This place cannot hold me if I truly wish to escape. You know it, I know it, and I just wanted everyone to know that that was the case. I will admit that I might have gone a bit far in my attempt to lighten the mood, but it was still somewhat humorous, right?"

Twister replied "Tell you what, I'll make with the jokes, you stick to your analysis, okay?" After the robot had nodded, he asked "Just one more question. Why did you think that would be a good joke anyway?" The robot replied "My instruments calculated that it would be funny, but apparently I miscalculated. I'm sorry for that."

Before Twister could say anything, the voice of Spike came from upstairs, saying "Alright alright, jeez! What's your big deal anyway?" He then walked down the stairs and looked at the other two males downstairs. The others looked at him as if to ask what had happened.

He said "Is it just me, or does Twilight seem to be acting a bit odd to you guys?" Metal then replied "I am not sure, I have not been around her to know what she's like when she is, odd, as you put it." Twister nodded in agreement, then added "Why don't you tell us what's got you so worried for her?"

"I'm not worried, just a bit concerned." he answered. "When I went upstairs before, she was pacing around the room. When I went into her room she got all jumpy and dropped a book, then picked it up and put it behind her back. Then she got defensive when I asked if she was alright. When we went back upstairs a few moments ago, she started fuming about your joke, which would have been hilarious if I knew you were joking. Then she looked at me and asked me to leave, and I tried telling her I wasn't going to budge, but she wouldn't let me stay. In all honesty I don't know what to make of this, do you guys?"

Twister thought for a second before answering "You're right, that does seem odd. From what you've told me however, I can't tell what's wrong. Got any ideas Metal head?" Sonic was just thinking to himself for a bit, but eventually asked "The book you spoke of, did you catch the title?"

Spike thought back. "Now that you mention it, I don't think it had a title on it, just some weird symbol." "What did it look like?" Metal queried. Spike answered "Well, It was sort of a reddish brown skin on the book, and I think the symbol was a sun and a crescent moon. What does that tell us?" Metal answered "I don't know, but I think we should not dwell on this just yet. Would you kindly show me the rest of the library? If I am to be staying here after all, I might as well know where everything is, correct?" Spike nodded.

Before he could start the tour however, there was a knock on the door. Wondering who it could Spike opened the door and found three fillies standing outside of it. The cutie mark crusaders had been reassembled with the purpose of seeing the new people, and they would not be denied. "Well, we're back!" said Sweetie Belle, before looking around and asking "Say, where've they all gone?"

Metal answered them. "They are heading towards their lodging for the night. I believe they are at your sisters houses." He then took a look at an orange and purple pegasus that was looking at him in awe. "I take it you are Scootaloo. I am Metal Sonic." The little filly said "I didn't believe you guys when you talked about that robot, but now I know just what you were talking about. This is totally AWESOME! I can't believe that those robots in the comic books are actually real! Wow, I can't wait to start asking you questions."

Before she could however, Sweetie Belle stated "That sounds great Scoots, but maybe we should go to our sister's houses and see the others. You can ask him questions tomorrow." Scootaloo, though looking disappointed, said "Oh, alright. It was nice seeing you mister robot. I'll ask my questions tomorrow. Goodbye!" They then all zipped out of the door. Metal looked outside and said "Well, that was interesting." Twister replied "My friend, you have no idea." The tour started shortly after.

The extremely short tour ended with the basement, which Metal noted had a strange machine in it. Metal asked what it was, and he got the strangest reply imaginable. "Well, I like to call it the Doohickey 2000, but don't tell Twilight that I said that. I believe she said it can measure the magical output of anyone strapped into it, can tell you when there are going to be earthquakes, and also tell you just how much magic Pinkie's tail twitches output."

The first question on his mind was "Tail twitches? Whatever do you mean by that?" Spike answered "Well, Pinkie said that whenever she could feel something about to fall, her tail would start twitching. Twilight got it so that she could study Pinkie Pie. Needless to say, it didn't really work, but we kept it anyway since it has so many different uses. What do you think?"

Metal took a look at it for a moment. He then turned to Twister and stated "It seems I have underestimated the technological advancement and sheer brilliance of you and your race. I apologize deeply for this." Twister said "Thanks, but it was actually the unicorns who came up with this idea, not pegasi, so it's them you should be thanking." Metal held his hand up and said "Regardless, I made the mistake of undervaluing your scientific achievements based merely on what I saw, which was wrong of me. Therefore, you should take my compliment and keep it." Twister nodded.

After they had left the basement, Spike asked "Okay, what do you guys think we should do about Twilight?" Metal answered "I believe what we should do is take a look at that book as it seems to be the source of her anxiety. I am quite sure however that she would not give it up under normal circumstances, so we have to get her out of her room somehow. Any ideas on how to do that?" This they all thought, would take some heavy thinking.

After a good hour, they had come up with a plan. During dinner, Metal would head outside under the pretense of getting some air, and Twister would follow him (seeing as he's the guard and all). After they had went outside, both would fly up to her room, metal would look for the book while Twister would be the lookout, just in case something happened. The plan being settled, and it being 5:00pm, they began their next project. Now they had to figure out what to make for dinner.

After another half hour of discussing, they had decided on a dandelion soup that Spike had said was delicious. Spike and Twister would be the ones cooking the meal, while Metal, who didn't have taste buds, would be their 'go fer' as they called it. The cooking was finished relatively quickly, allowing dinner to be served at 7:45.

When they got Twilight down for dinner, they began enacting the plan. Metal got up and said "If you don't mind, I'd like to go outside for a while. I'm not a big fan of being inside all the time." Twister, who went according to the plan, replied "What! Why couldn't you have told me this before now? I'm starving and I need to eat!" Metal then shot back "It will only be a bit, and besides, you need to watch me. Come on, mister volunteer." Twister passed by Twilight while muttering "Volunteer my flank, more like draftee." They both headed outside.

As soon as they were outside, they flew up and landed on the balcony. With careful ease, they opened up the window and headed inside. The sun was in its twilight, so you could still see with relative ease. Twister headed to the door and cracked it a bit so he could see down the stairs. And with that, Metal began looking for the book that Spike had described.

Twilight began picking at her soup. She had spent a few of the last hours either trying to come up with a solution to her moral quandary or thinking about just how weird her life had gotten since Discord had escaped again. Speaking of which, just where was Discord anyway? You'd think that with his freedom gained and the princesses gone he would be freely causing massive amounts of chaos everywhere. But, he hadn't shown up since the worlds had merged. It was something to ponder at any rate.

Spike, who hadn't heard a word from his big sister since she had shooed him off, tried to start a conversation. "So Twilight, uh, how are you doing?" She then stirred out of her daze and looked at the little dragon for a moment. She then said "Oh, um, I'm doing fine Spike, why do you ask?"

He looked at her and said "I'm asking because you've been acting weird lately. Can you tell me what's wrong?" Twilight thought for a little bit before saying "Well Spike, I'm not entirely sure what to say, but if I had to say what was wrong, I think I'd say…" she thought for a moment on what was wrong, and came up with a suitable answer. "… I don't know everything! Yeah, that's right, everything's wrong!"

Spike, obviously puzzled by all of this, said "What do you mean by that Twilight?" Twilight looked at him and started to go into hysterics while asking "Can't you see it Spike? All of this stuff, Discord escaping, the merging of four worlds to ours, the disappearance of the princesses, this new quest that we're on, it's all wrong! It's like I'm living in some kind of a nightmare that I can't wake up from, like it was something that wasn't supposed to happen in the first place but happened anyway. It's all wrong! Wrong wrong wrong wrong **WRONG**!" She then caught a breather and stopped.

Spike, who wasn't expecting such a reaction, suddenly sputtered out "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, I just wanted to know what was wrong." He had a penitent look on his face. Twilight, who just realized what she had done, said "I'm sorry." and then got up and began to head upstairs. Spike then exclaimed "But you didn't finish dinner!" Twilight replied "That's alright, I'm not hungry." and continued. Spike hoped that the others had gotten out of there before she got upstairs, because if not, there would be hell to pay.

Twister had been eating some taffy he had from earlier that week while he waited for Sonic to finish finding the book. They had already searched through most of the room except the bookcase, which he thought was the most obvious place to hide a book in the history of ever.

Soon after, Metal found the book he was looking for and opened it up. He began reading it. It was then that Metal said "Ah, no wonder she was so anxious. This isn't a regular book. It's a diary, and if I'm correct, it belongs to Princess Luna." Twister nearly choked as he said that. How had she gotten her hands on the princess's diary? That was a question he'd have to ask her later.

Sonic put his metallic nose back into the book and started reading some more. Twister however, as soon as he had turned back to his post, found that Twilight was headed up the stairs. He tried to tell sonic, but his mouth was covered in taffy that he couldn't hope to get off in time to warn Sonic. So instead, he ran over to him and started shaking him.

When Sonic started shaking, he looked up and saw Twister pointing at the doorway. He was trying to say something, but he had a mouthful of taffy that he couldn't get rid of. Sonic guessed that Twilight was coming up. He had to make a decision fast. Suddenly he made it. "Twister, you head on out. I'll let Twilight catch me and say this was my idea alone. Go!" Twister, who couldn't say anything if he wasted to, nodded and headed out the window. Metal meanwhile, was preparing for his greatest challenge yet as the door opened.

When Twilight opened the door, she saw the most surprising thing she ever had. Metal was standing in the middle of her room with a book in his hand. Her first question was "Sonic? What are you doing up here? I thought you were taking a walk for air." He answered "No, that was a fabrication. Spike told me he was concerned for you, and I thought your anxiety had to do with this book he mentioned. So, I told the guard after we left what I was doing. He should be outside the door right now. I'm sorry for lying."

Twilight then got a look at the book, and suddenly she got angry. She said "How dare you come into my personal space and take things that aren't yours? You are a worse person than I thought." He replied to her "Well I didn't take this from your Princess did I? I know you love knowledge, but stealing is wrong and you should know it."

Twilight retorted "I didn't steal it! It was on the floor of the ancient castle where we got your sword. It hadn't been used for a while and I picked it up. Besides, I haven't even read it yet, so how can you judge me for something I didn't do that you did?" Metal said "I understand that, but why not just keep the book for the princess and give it back when we find her again? Why keep obsessing over this? Why do you let make you so anxious?"

She answered "It's not just that book that has me anxious…" and she stopped there. Metal asked "What else has you so anxious that you snap at your friends?" Twilight looked up angrily and shouted "**EVERYTHING!** You, your friends, your worlds, artifacts, villains, everything! None of it belongs in my world, so why won't you leave it alone? I want my world back!" Her eyes then flashed from anger to shock, and then started watering.

Before he could say anything, Twilight was a sobbing heap on the floor, sobbing out "Not my world, not anymore. It's changed too much. Give it back, come back to me." She kept crying, and he knew what had happened. The shock of what had happened had finally caught up to her, and she couldn't take it, not alone. So, thinking quickly, he sat down next to her.

He thought of how to be gentle about what he had to say and said "Things change. It's a simple yet sad fact of life that no matter how long you live, something in your life is going to change. Though rare are the times when the entire world changes, it happens. I wish I could give you back your world, the world you remember with such fondness, but I can't. I know that you are a great person, and I wish such awful things wouldn't happen to you, but it is not for you or me to decide. All we can decide is what we can do given our circumstances."

It was then that she looked up at him again. For a second, it looked as though she were about to say something, but then she started sobbing again, this time into his chassis. He wasn't entirely sure what to do, but he got the idea that now might be the time for some humor. So, he tried to think of something, and then he said "Careful, if one of those hits a wire then you may have frizzy hair for a week."

She looked up again, and this time asked "Did, did you just make a joke?" He nodded, wondering how she would take this attempt at humor. Surprisingly enough, she laughed. It wasn't a big laugh in any sense of the word, but it was certainly a welcome sound. She then said "Thanks for that. *sniff* You really are great, you know that?" He then replied "I believe you already told me this, but it doesn't hurt to hear it again." She could swear that if he could, he would have had a giant grin on his face.

He then asked a serious question. "Why did you take that book Twilight? Why would you take the diary of a princess?" Twilight sighed and said "Remember when I told you about how I met my friends and stopped Nightmare Moon?" He nodded. "Well, after that I got to know Princess Luna, and the more I saw of her, the more I thought to myself 'How could a loving sister like her have turned into something like Nightmare Moon?', it's a question that's been bugging me ever since. When I found that diary, I knew that I had what I had always wanted, an answer to my question, but I had grown to know Luna even more, I could even call her a friend. Friends don't look in other friend's diaries, I mean, the good ones don't, right?"

Metal looked at her for a second before saying "It is a good thing that you are resisting the temptation to read that book, however, I cannot say that it would be entirely evil to read the pages concerning her turn to the worse. After all, who is to say that information won't help in the future?"

She shook her head as he said this, replying "No, you still don't understand. See, it isn't just for the knowing that I want the information. The real reason I want to know is…" She hesitated here. Should she really tell him the real reason? Would he even understand? Was it wrong for her to bottle this up? Could he keep it a secret if she asked him to? 'Well, you won't know if you don't say…' said her good voice. So, she started talking again

"Well, it's because I don't want whatever happened to her to happen to me." she said. Metal looked at her for a second before making a motion to continue. She then added "I don't want my friends to end up being my enemies just because I made some stupid avoidable mistake earlier, and I don't want to be banished either. I thought, maybe the diary could show me how not to act so I could do the opposite, if that makes any sense."

"I understand completely." he said. "I applaud you for trying to prevent yourself from doing wrong. If I had had a choice, I would have done something similar. However, I see you are not comfortable with the book around, so I ask that you hand it over to me for safe keeping. If you are sure that you wish to read it, I will give it to you, but only then. Does that sound fair to you?" Twilight thought for a moment before saying yes. He said "Very well. Now, I believe we should go downstairs and let them know we're alright, yes?" She nodded and they walked downstairs while they held each other's hands.

It was now nighttime at the Carousel Boutique as three friends readied their beds so they could sleep. Two of said friends were ready to go to sleep, but one had so many questions on her mind that she found she couldn't. Her name was Percival, knight of the round table and knight of the holy fire, and she was quite confused.

As she made her bed, she thought of just what had been changed since that fateful day when Lady Nimue had sent her on this quest and the entire world changed. She remembered the old days when all she had to do to save the realm was slay an enemy that was causing trouble. What she wouldn't give to have those days back. Now it seemed the world had changed to something that she couldn't even recognize anymore.

In particular, she missed the company of Sir Lancelot, or Shadow as he called himself now. Se had once had a great friendship with him. 'No.' she reminded herself firmly 'More than friendship. You loved him, and you know it.' It was true, but how could she not? They had been friends ever since they were children. Hell, he was the one who convinced her to become a knight in the first place, despite what others had to say about a woman being a knight, or anything else for that matter.

That, in and of itself, had taken a lot of work on her part, and even with all of her work she could only get herself up to squire. It was only a trick performed in front of then King Arthur that got her to be a knight. When she realized that they wouldn't make her a knight, she had told Lancelot about it, who at the time was with another friend, Henry Toddsworth. Toddsworth suggested that she go to a jousting tournament and dress herself as a knight, not revealing herself until she had won.

This, of course, was easier said then done. It took a while for her to gather the armor necessary to make a good disguise, and even then she won the tournament by the skin of her teeth. After she had done a full day's tourneying, the king was to declare her the winner. As she got up to the podium, she took off her helmet. The crowd exploded in an uproar, for they were outraged. The king however was impressed with her skills, as she had defeated the best knights in his realm. And so, as a reward for her work, he gave her knighthood.

That, she thought to herself, was one of the best days she had ever had. Of course, that was before King Arthur turned out to be a manufactured king, and even then turned into an evil creature, but that is another story. The world, it seemed was just getting worse and worse, and nobody seemed to be able to do anything about it. But, that was what Lady Nimue was doing, wasn't it? Gathering allies so they could do something about all of this.

So many problems, so many questions, and answers too few. 'Best not to dwell on something like this at night.' she thought to herself. She wanted to sleep. It had been an exhausting few days, and she really needed the rest. But she couldn't as long as one question haunted her mind. Just what should she do about her feelings towards Shadow?

It was obvious to her that she still had feelings for him. It was also painfully obvious to her that he didn't return them. So what should she do about it? Ignore her feelings? Try and get his attentions through another means? She didn't know, and it bothered her to no end. There had to be an answer, there just had to be, so where was it?

It was at this time that she heard footsteps coming her way. She turned away from her window to see who it was. As it turned out, it was her host Rarity. Being grateful for the lodgings, she said "I thank you for giving me a place to stay miss, that was generous of you." Rarity wove her hand in the air and replied "Pish posh darling, it's the least I could do for a few of my friends. Now, if you don't mind, I think I'll be heading to bed. Goodnight Lady Percival." Then, with a final yawn, she went off to bed.

Percival regarded the woman that just left her room. She regarded her as the most generous person she had ever seen. It wasn't just anything that made you give an almost total stranger a guest bed in your home. She wondered how she had become such a generous young woman in the first place, what philosophy could make you give so freely, but that was a question for another day.

Not long after that, the other guest arrived, and she had something to say. "Lady Percival?" asked Santa Fuega, "May I say something?" Percival replied "Do speak whatever is on your mind, and I will listen, Miss Fuega." The black mare looked nervous for a moment as if she was afraid, but soon she began speaking. "Well, I wanted to thank you for treating me so well, before I could speak for myself, I mean. I've heard some nasty tales about the mistreating of horses under other people and, well, I'm just glad that you weren't like those other people and thank you for treating me so well."

She replied "You are most welcome Miss Fuega. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to be off to bed, big meeting tomorrow if you remember." The mare then said "Of course, sorry for disturbing you ma'am. Goodnight." She then walked back to her room for the night.

As Percival set her head back on the bed, she realized something that she hadn't thought of before. She had been talking to her horse for the past few days without batting an eyebrow. Her horse. Not only was it her horse only either, but other horses as well. She supposed there were only two explanations for that. Either the world had gone mad or she had. Oh well, it wasn't the time to think of that stuff anyway. Now was the time of rest, and rest she would.

At the apple farm, three males were getting ready to sleep in a barn. None of them minded it though, for most of them it was just as good as sleeping at home. The only exception to this was Sinbad, but that was because he had had many good beds before this. He still didn't mind, except perhaps for lack of female company. They had to be thankful to their female host however, for she had given them what she could.

Suddenly there was a rapping at the door of the barn. When the door opened, an orange pony stepped in. She was carrying several blankets towards them. When she got up to them she said "There ya go, now, you fellas need anything else?" Tails replied "No, we're fine, aren't we guys?" Francis said "Of course. Thank you kindly for your generosity ma'am."

Sinbad however, said "Well, I must say sits going to take some getting used to. It's been a long time since I last slept in a barn. It's been an even longer one since I did it in the company of a beautiful woman such as you." That earned him a blanket to the face and a snort of indignation. "Dream on Casanova! I ain't getting in the sack with you, not now, not ever." she replied. Sinbad then chuckled and said "Relax princess, it was only a joke. If I was really trying, you'd probably never even suspected it until it was too late." She merely replied "Yeah, whatever." and began walking out the door.

Before she exited, she turned back and said "I'll see y'all in the morning, if'n ya don't sneak out on us. Goodnight." She turned around and closed the door. Francis turned around and lay down upon his bed of hay and pulled his blanket over him, so he could sleep. Tails did the same, not wanting to be tired for tomorrow morning's meeting.

Sinbad lay down on his hay bed and looked up at the ceiling, thinking of the promise he had made to his friend Rannah. He had promised her that they would get to the bottom of this, and while he had, she was nowhere to be found. He had a code, and part of it stated that he had to keep his promises to his friends. He had only failed two. His childhood promise to Jet'ar to stay his friend to the day they died and this promise to Rannah. Both of those made him feel sick to his stomach, but he wasn't going to give either up just yet. When he made a promise, he wasn't about to give it up because she couldn't be found.

The poor girl was probably scared out of her wits right now, if he knew her at all. Indeed he did know her, as a matter of fact he first met her while on a mission for the Babylon Rogues. It was your typical botched thieving mission that got way too out of hand. He and a group of others were supposed to steal a diamond, they got ratted out by one of their own, and so they didn't get caught a hostage was taken. You can guess who the hostage was.

He managed to get out of this caper relatively unscathed, though everyone else in his group was caught. That was thanks to her intervention and knowledge of the back routes of the city. He hadn't been the one to kidnap her, so she was thankful to get out of that situation alive. After that, and a few other encounters they became a couple. Then they had a fight and broke up, but still they remained good friends.

He knew he wouldn't be able to find her by reminiscing about their times together. He had to look for her, as she had probably been teleported to another place entirely, if she wasn't in Shamar. But he realized worrying about it wouldn't do him any favors in the long run, so he closed his eyes and started going to sleep.

Fluttershy sat up on a chair in her room, staring out towards the dark forest spreading out before her, thinking on a friend who was now within its borders. She had promised Lady Nimue to try and help Shadow, but how could she help him if he kept pushing her away? It wasn't a very encouraging position that she was in. What should she do? Should she go to sleep and wait till morning to talk with him? Should she go out into the woods and talk to him right now?

She really didn't know what to do in this situation. She couldn't think of any time where a dilemma such as this popped up in her life before. She had to think this through carefully, unless she wanted to do something wrong and potentially ruin her chances. If she went out there now, chances were she'd catch him either sleeping or doing something else. She really didn't want to disturb him, it would be unkind of her.

On the other hand, if she waited until morning, her mind would be fresher and she wouldn't have to worry a thing about disturbing him. Besides, it wasn't as if she had to rush and talk to him right now. And so, realizing that staying up and worrying about it wasn't going to do anyone any favors, she headed to her bed.

Suddenly, she heard a male voice coming from outside her door. "Mind if I come in for a sec?" asked the creature that was formerly her pet. She said "Oh, come on in Angel." He then stepped in and said "Well thanks. I was just coming in to say goodnight to you Fluttershy. Oh, and by the way, I have to say thanks for taking care of me and the other guys all this time. It must have been a real thankless job taking care of me and the other animals around here, and well, thanks for all your hard work."

She answered him "Oh, you don't have to do that Angel, I don't need to be thanked because it's something I really like to do. Besides, if I didn't take care of you poor creatures, then who would?" Angel smiled at his owner and said "And that is why you are the greatest pony around. Goodnight Fluttershy." He then left her room. Deciding not to think about just how weird that conversation was, she got into her covers and closed her eyes so she could rest.

Shadow watched from the edge of the forest as a light went out in Fluttershy's house, most likely from her room. He then began thinking, for a moment, that maybe he could have stayed with her, just to make sure that she would be safe. But then he shook his head at himself, knowing that she wouldn't want a beast disturbing her animals late at night. Besides, there was no guarantee that if he left those things from the castle wouldn't attack them. He would stay right here and keep the monsters at bay.

He later began thinking about just what all things he had learned by being joined by other versions of himself. He had learned how to fight with a sword, he had learned that he was a knight and something of a lord regent, he had recently found out that another version of himself had, in fact been a spy for a government, but he couldn't remember much except the acronym G.U.N., which meant who knew what.

But he also remembered that one of his selves had been a lover to his now companion Lady Percival. He hadn't expected that really. To think that there was a version of him that was in fact, happy, was alien to him. He had been miserable nearly 24/7 since he had been awoken from his slumber aboard the ark. There of course had been flashes of happiness here and there, but it was nothing much, and all the pain was enough to make anyone consider jumping off of a bridge.

Of course, he also knew that he couldn't. After all, he was the leader of a rebellion, and it was important that your troops saw that you had confidence and optimism, lest they lose morale and the battle. And besides that, what would any of them think of you if the 'ultimate life form' just up and killed himself? Nobody would want to fight after that,

He laughed at himself. He really should stop thinking those maudlin thoughts before he did something stupid just because 'nothing in the universe matters'. 'Besides, what would my friends think if I…' His thoughts trailed off there. Had he already started considering them as his friends? Not all of them, but as he thought, he realized that he had gotten an attachment to Fluttershy. And why not? She was a great woman to be around. She didn't really talk all that much, but when she did she said a lot of great things. She seemed willing to listen to a person's problems and help them if she could, and she was a brave girl.

He did have a problem however. It seemed every time he got close to someone, they just ended up dead. First it was Maria, then Tails, and most recently Sally. Poor Sally, he could barely bear the fate that he was sure had befallen her. If only he could have done something different, maybe she wouldn't have been caught. He stopped there. He was thinking on what to do with his new acquaintances at the moment. There was time for mourning later.

He pondered what to do with them. He couldn't just ignore them, for they would come to him regardless. Perhaps he could interact without becoming attached? No, that wouldn't work either. Then, he heard a noise, and all those thoughts were pushed to the back of his mind. He could think on them later, for now he had wild creatures to conquer. With that, he headed into the dark forest, ready for whatever awaited him.

* * *

A/N: Hello readers. Now, I know that there is a sincere lack of action in these past few chapters, but I ought to get back to action, writing permitted, in the next chapter. Now, while I've got a note I would like to thank a few people. First, to the men and women behind Doctor Whooves Adventures and Doctor Whooves and Assistant, thank you for getting me into the MLP fandom. Second, to GreenSonic and his story Sonic Generations: Friendship is Timeless, thanks for showing me the true awesomeness of a Sonic and MLP Crossover. Also thanks for giving me ideas on where to go, and how certain characters would act to situations.

Third, thanks to TheCrosser and his story There and Back at the Speed of Sound for giving me even more ideas and captainawsum9999 for giving me advice. Check out his story if you want, it's called Journey into the Unknown. One last thank you, to my sister, who has been proof reading these things of late, to make sure there aren't any errors in my narrative or typing.

Now that the corporate shilling is out of the way (Only Joking) I can make a few announcements. First, I'm going to be going back over my story and fixing a few things I have found wrong in the chapters. ( Things like spelling mistakes, missing words, and the like.) So, you can imagine that you'll have to wait longer for a new chapter (I'm sorry!). Second and last, I've heard a lot of people asking about where Sonic is. Now don't you worry your little head, he'll show up, but it'll take a while in this story because of what I have planned. So, please review and tell me what you think (I.E. it sucks, this is a piece of crap, it's awesome, e.t.c.) and please list reasons for your review, particularly if you think it sucks (Aside from "Ponies are Gay", any attempt to make that argument will be met with a laugh behind a computer screen). Until I post a new chapter my friends. EXCELSIOR! (Crap! That's Marvel!)


End file.
